Regardless of what he can contribute with his offense, the players of the Miami Marlins see Yuli gurriel with a real líder, something that has only been possible with his experience of so many years as a baseball player; that considering that he is barely in his eighth year in the Majors.
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“He called me to talk one-on-one,” said catcher Jacob Stallings, who according to MLB.com received advice from the Cuban regarding the position of his hands when hitting. “We all respect him and tend to gravitate towards him. If you're having a bad day, he'll say, 'Look, hang in there. Still there. You're good, keep going.'”
Now, the advice apparently paid off: Stallings hit a pair of doubles on Wednesday night, helping his team beat the Rockies 10-2 at Coors Field on Wednesday night. The 'fish' offense produced a total of 14 hits, four of them coming from the Cuban bat, which also ended a Marlins slump of only two hits in 19 at-bats with runners in scoring position.
Inspiration for the team
“To have somebody with that pedigree – he's been on winning teams. He won a batting title. I have been blown away by the level of professionalism from him,” said Joey Wendle. "He is here, he comes to work and knows how to treat his body [even] at 38 years old."
In his most recent games, Gurriel is hitting .360 (25-for-9) with three RBIs, two runs scored and an .833 OPS. While in 28 challenges and 112 plate visits in 2023, he has an average of .291; Product of 30 hits in 103 shifts, with three doubles, a triple and a home run. He has 10 runs scored and RBI, a .330 OBP and a .757 OPS.
