Arizona Diamondbacks 2024 Player Review: Lourdes Gurriel Jr.

The left fielder had another strong offensive year but made his mark in the field as a Gold Glove finalist

Jul 29, 2024; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks outfielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr. (12) looks on in the eighth inning against the Washington Nationals at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Matt Kartozian-Imagn Images / Matt Kartozian-Imagn Images

This article is part of a series chronicling the individual seasons of players who appeared for the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2024.

Reviews for players who still have rookie eligibility for 2025 will appear in our prospect season reviews. Players are presented in the reverse order of their aWAR, an average of Baseball-Reference and FanGraphs WAR.

Lourdes Gurriel Jr., Right-Handed Outfielder, Age: 31

2024 Contract Status: $10 MM

Lourdes Gurriel Jr. stats for 2024 with the Arizona Diamondbacks and for his career / Jake Olive

Lourdes Gurriel Jr. was acquired from the Toronto Blue Jays along with catcher Gabriel Moreno in the trade that sent outfielder Daulton Varsho out. The language of Gurriel's original contract with the Blue Jays allowed for him to reach free agency following 2023, despite not having reached six full years of service time.

Gurriel wound up signing a three-year, $42 MM agreement with the Diamondbacks on December 22 that allowed Gurriel Jr. to potentially opt out of the deal after the second season. GM Mike Hazen explained that in exchange for the opt out, the D-backs negotiated an option for a fourth year. Thus, the purple haired outfielder and fan favorite player returned to left field in 2024.

According to OPS+ (100 league average), Gurriel Jr. had a better offensive season than 2023. He had a 109 OPS+ with a .757 OPS, 22 doubles, two triples, 18 home runs, 75 RBI, seven stolen bases, 29 walks, and 101 strikeouts. His wRC+ was 108, an improvement on 2023 too.

Gurriel Jr. started the season off scorching hot with eight hits in his first four games, including two doubles, three homers, 10 RBI, and six runs.

That hot streak continued for the first 23 games of the year and he hit .300 with an .852 OPS before his bat cooled off. He had 30 hits over this span.

However, from April 26 to May 26, he encountered a lengthy slump as he struggled to make strong contact and hit for average. Over 26 games and 101 at-bats, Gurriel Jr. hit just .161 with a .448 OPS and only 17 hits. He had just five doubles and one home run in the absence of power.

He struck out 23 times to only three walks as he got into two-strike counts often with early swings. Plus, he struggled with men on base as he hit into five double plays during this short span.

This dropped his season average to just .234 and OPS to only .650, season low numbers for him that made plenty of Arizona fans nervous. However, Gurriel Jr. would soon get hot again as is typical of the known streaky hitter.

In fact, his hot streak this time lasted through the end of the season. From May 27 to the end of the season, a span of 84 games, Gurriel Jr. hit .308 with an .824 OPS as the power returned to some degree.

Despite a balky left shoulder, Gurriel Jr. had 12 doubles, 12 home runs, and two triples during this span to go with 46 RBI. It was close to a return to form for him as he was one of the team's most consistent hitters especially from the right side of the lineup.

Unfortunately for him, he was forced to go on the 10-Day IL from September 2 to September 20 with a mild left calf strain. That was a pivotal part of the season for the team to go without one of it's hottest bats especially when the team faced multiple left-handed starters.

Not to mention, the team was down Ketel Marte, Moreno, and Christian Walker for parts of that stretch too.

It remains to be seen how much Gurriel Jr.'s injured left shoulder that affected him much of the season affected his swing, swing speed, and timing because the stats show that his timing on fastballs over 95 MPH was a career-worse.

In 2022, he had an xBA of .428. In 2023, it was .323. In 2024, it fell all the way to .269. His expected slugging on 95 MPH or greater fastballs has fallen from .642 in 2022 to .419 in 2024. Meanwhile, his whiff rate has gone up from 10.3% to 12.1%.

Plus, his average exit velocity has gone from 99.6 MPH to just 91.4 despite pitches coming in far faster.

Now, this can be turned around. Perhaps, he was hurt more than anyone knew and he will rebound back to his 2022-23 numbers next season. Or, this is the start of a decline that will affect him in the future and limit his ability to be the impactful right-handed bat that he's paid to be. Only time will tell.

His strikeout rate went up, his walk rate went down, his isolated power number (slugging minus average) went way down, and his barrel percentage went down. His hard hit percentage went down to a career low 39.8%. He just was not hitting the ball as hard anymore.

There were some positive signs for Gurriel Jr this past season. His line drive rate was nearly identical to last year. He hit the ball on the ground at a career-low rate of 37.9%. He still hit .320 against fastballs and improved against breaking pitches among other improvements.

He still crushed left-handed pitching too. Over 173 plate appearances, he hit .331 and had an OPS of .885 with nine doubles, seven homers, and 24 RBI. He struck out just 32 times against them.

2025 and Beyond

2025 Contract status: Under Contract for $14 MM

Lourdes Gurriel Jr. will be back in left field as a fan favorite player on Opening Day next year provided he's healthy. He's one of the few returning right-handed bats that has power so he will certainly be back with the Arizona Diamondbacks.

He will look to stay healthy and improve against high-speed fastballs and off-speed pitches. Gurriel Jr. will continue to improve his defense in left field under the tutelage of Coach Dave McKay and seek to win his first Gold Glove there after being nominated this year.

His pineapple reminiscent hair will continue to be the craze among fans as he continues to be a clubhouse leader and help the Diamondbacks get back to the playoffs. They will need him too as they don't have an easy way to replace his bat or the potential of his bat.

Plus, Gurriel Jr. will have plenty of motivation to have another career season ahead of a potential opt-out in his contract that could allow him to make dozens more million dollars in free agency following his age-31 season.

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