Former Houston Astros World Series Champ Moving Up All-Time Playoff List With Royals

A former Houston Astros playoff standout is moving up an all-time playoff list with the Kansas City Royals.

Sep 27, 2024; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Kansas City Royals first baseman Yuli Gurriel (18) celebrates after clinching a wild card playoff birth after a game against the Atlanta Braves at Truist Park. / Brett Davis-Imagn Images

The Houston Astros 2024 postseason run came to an end much sooner than many people predicted it would.

Despite earning the No. 3 seed in the American League and having home-field advantage in the Wild Card Round against the Detroit Tigers, they were eliminated after being swept in the first two games of the series.

It snapped their streak of seven straight ALCS appearances and could have been the last time we see some key members from that stretch on the team.

Third baseman Alex Bregman and starting pitcher Justin Verlander are both heading toward free agency. The slugging infielder is expected to draw a ton of attention as the best player at his position, while early reports are the future Hall of Famer won’t be back with the Astros.

They could end up facing the same fate as other key contributors from those incredible postseason runs and end up elsewhere in the league.

One of the prominent players from those runs was first baseman Yuli Gurriel.

He spent the first seven seasons of his MLB career in Houston, helping the team win two World Series. In 2021, he even led the Major Leagues with a .321 batting average before his production began to slip.

This year, he ended up latching on with the Kansas City Royals near the end of the regular season and is now a prominent part of their lineup because first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino cannot play the field with the thumb injury he is dealing with.

While the Astros may not be in the postseason any longer, they can take some solace in watching one of their former postseason stars continue to torment one of their rivals, the New York Yankees.

The Royals are facing off against the Yankees in the ALDS and Gurriel has been incredibly productive. He has gone 2-for-6 with two walks and four runs scored through the first two games of the series.

On Monday, he continued climbing baseball’s all-time postseason hits list when he connected against Carlos Rodon for a single in the top of the fourth inning.

That was the 90th hit in his postseason career, moving into sole possession of 11th place.

Yuli Gurriel is now ranked 11th all-time for the most hits in postseason history, with 90.

— Francys Romero (@francysromeroFR) October 8, 2024

Depending on how hot he gets at the plate, and how deep Kansas City advances, he could find himself in the top 10 before the playoffs are over. His former teammate Carlos Correa, who now plays for the Minnesota Twins, is next ahead of him with 91.

Albert Pujols, Chipper Jones and Kenny Lofton are all tied with 97 as the last players on the list in double-digits. If the Royals can advance to the ALCS or World Series, Gurriel will have a great chance to break into the top seven.