Houston Astros slugger Yuli Gurriel did the honorable thing when talking about his role in the Astros scandal. He manned up.
“No one put a gun to our head. It would be a lie to say that one or two people are responsible. We are all responsible,” said Houston Astros slugger Yuli Gurriel to ESPN’s Marly Rivera about the sign-stealing scandal involving Houston.
The Cuban who was a big part of the Astros offense during the regular season hitting .298 while going yard 31 times and driving in 104 runs didn’t point any fingers, which was the honorable thing to do.
The native of Sancti Spiritus was also a key cog in the team’s playoff run driving in 13 runs during the postseason.
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It would be a fallacy to say the Gurriel didn’t benefit from the sign stealing, but it would also be a lie to say he isn’t a quality Major League hitter.
We are talking about someone who has hit everywhere he has played. He’s a .293 lifetime hitter in the big show.
The Antillean also swung hot lumber in his brief incursion in the Nippon League with DeNa. In 62 games in the land of the rising son, the native of Yayabo hit .305 with 11 bombs and 30 Rbi’s.
His performance in International competitions such as the World Baseball Classic, Olympics and Caribbean World Series also supports that he’s an elite hitter. In many of those tournaments, he saw plenty of hurlers who were and are of big-league caliber.
Yuli Gurriel is looking to put last year’s scandal behind him and focus on this year’s task, which is getting to the World Series.
Although the Houston Astros lost ace Gerrit Cole, they are still one of the favorites to reach the World Serie in the AL.
Hoston opens up its Spring Training calendar against Washington April 22 in West Palm Beach, Florida.