Breakout Candidates: Lourdes Gurriel Jr.

Lourdes Gurriel Jr. — brother of MLB champion Yuli Gurriel — is the Blue Jays current left fielder, and made the transition from shortstop during the 2019 season due to the arrival of Bo Bichette. The 23 year old was signed out of Cuba in 2017 on a 7 year $22 million deal, which has looked like a great deal for Toronto thus far. After debuting in 2018, he has taken significant strides to establish himself as an everyday starter for the Jays.

After a slow start to his first pro season in 2017, Gurriel Jr. took off in 2018. He spent 2017 in advanced A and AA, where he took form as a below average power hitter, and an average contact hitter. He started 2018 in AA, and after an impressive run, made it up to the team early in the year, debuting in late April. In AA and AAA, his bat started to wake up, hitting for a .301 average with 7 home runs in 206 at bats combined between the two levels. With his impressive performance, he was brought up to play all around the infield, as the teams starting infield consisted of all short term solutions in Aledmys Diaz, Russell Martin, and Brandon Drury as the primary options.

Upon making his debut, Gurriel Jr. had an immediate impact on the team. In 249 at bats he posted solid numbers across the board with a .281 average and 11 home runs. On the defensive side, he exclusively played the middle infield, but had a rough time. At second base he was slightly below league average, but only played around a third of his time there. A majority of his time was spent at shortstop, where he really struggled, finishing with -11 defensive runs saved through as few as 351.1 innings. It was clear he needed a lot of work to remain the team's future shortstop, but with Bo Bichette so close to debuting, the team gave up on the experiment.

In 2019, the Jays needed to find Gurriel a new place to play. With a crowded future infield consisting of Biggio, Guerrero Jr., and Bo Bichette, they chose to move him to a corner outfield position: left field. They worked with him early on to make the adjustment, but that quickly became the least of their problems, as he began putting up concerning numbers offensively, so poorly that he was demoted to AAA Buffalo early on. After nearly a month, and many adjustments, he got right back into the swing of things, this time better than ever.

2018 Gurriel was now a thing of the past. He was no longer a pure contact hitter, but rather a complete package, or a five tool player. His contact hitting stayed consistent, while he showed a high degree of improvement in the power department. Alongside this, the move to left field was working great. His shortstop arm converted well, and he quickly adjusted all around, finishing with -2 defensive runs saved in 532.0 innings. Although the defense is still around league average, he is a much better fit out in left that at shortstop in 2018.

With solid improvement at his new position, and new found pop in his bat, Gurriel Jr. has the opportunity to be an incredible player. The only thing missing from his game right now is consistency, which became quite obvious to anyone who watched in 2019. If he manages to resolve his consistency, the 2020 season could be a huge breakout season for the budding star, and he could be a piece of the Jays core for years to come.