Lourdes Gourriel Jr. put out Grandal with his throw

June 13, 2021

The guarantee offered in left field by Cuban Lourdes Gurriel Jr. to Toronto Blue Jays leaves little margin for rival runners to attempt to reach home successfully, as they know Yunito's arm. However, his compatriot Yasmani Grandal forgot such a condition and threw himself into suicide, and as is logical, he was called out at the plate.

Such a play came at the end of the fourth inning, when Chicago White Sox was taking its turn on offense. Andrew Vaughn managed to connect a hit off Toronto pitcher Alek Manoah, but when Grandal attempted to score from second base he was thrown out at home following an excellent throw from the outfielder.

Although the White Sox front office appealed the action in video review, the replay sided with the home plate umpire in the decision. Although they practically arrived at the same time, the Blue Jays catcher made an effort to prevent a Chicago run.

In the end, Toronto obtained a 6-2 victory over their rivals. During the visit to Guaranteed Rate Field, the younger of the Gurriel brothers failed in his four at-bats, three of them resulting in strikeouts.

Plays of this type have become customary for Lourdes Jr. and this season he has been on camera several times to the point that even his own brother advises runners not to attempt to deceive his arm. Just as happened a few days ago, during the matchup against the Houston Astros.

So far this season, Yunito's defense shows that in 52 games, he has committed only two errors in 87 chances, for a fielding average of .977 so far.

Furthermore, on one occasion, he participated in a double play. There is no doubt whatsoever, Lourdes Gourriels Jr.'s arm is one of the most powerful in all of MLB, and not only powerful, because in addition to its strength, it combines as a fundamental quality its precision, which makes him a true runner-hunter, eager to reach the plate.

Throughout this 2021 there have been several examples of quality that the younger Gurriel has left us on defense and many of those marvels are the product of the cannon he possesses in his right arm. The victim a few days ago were the Houston Astros and the foolish one who attempted to advance more than he should have was Myles Straw.

The play occurred in the top of the third, when starter Stripling had gotten into trouble with a single by Straw and a stolen base by the player himself. After getting Martín Maldonado out on a fly to Yunito himself, José Altuve fired a cannon shot to left field off a 92.6 MPH fastball. The batted ball came off violently at 105.7 MPH and the ball arrived very quickly to the Cuban's glove.

The center fielder for the Astros, apparently unaware of who was patrolling that zone of the field, bolted for third like a missile and from a distance of more than 215 feet, Lourdes Jr. threw a missile that arrived in the air and in time at the plate, just as catcher Reese McGuire waited for Straw, who couldn't even slide.

For Yunito this is being a prolific year in assists, being this, by far, his best result in this aspect of the game, showing important defensive growth.