Yuli Gurriel is Cuban baseball royalty — the Industriales third baseman many still rate as the finest player the Serie Nacional has produced. These are my photographs of Yulieski Gurriel, from Havana to Houston.
Yulieski Gurriel Castillo, born 9 June 1984, played 15 seasons in the Cuban National Series — twelve for Sancti Spíritus and three for Industriales — batting .340 with 257 home runs in 1,185 games. He left Cuba in February 2016 and went on to play ten Major League seasons, winning the World Series twice with Houston and the 2021 American League batting title. The photographs below are from his last years in Cuba.
Gurriel or Linares: Cuba’s Best Ever?
As impressive as Yuli Gurriel’s time with the Astros has been, there is always the question of what if surrounding him. What if Yuli had gotten to The Majors much younger? He is inextricably linked in debate with another what if in Cuban legend Omar Linares. The two are often compared as the best third basemen in Cuban National Series history and quite frequently as the best player. Linares never did get a chance to play in MLB, although he did have a short stint in Japan. Many point to this as the ultimate What if in Cuban baseball. This can aid him in the eyes of some purists. Others will point to Yuli having success in the world’s best league as evidence for him. Either way, Yulieski Gurriel is Cuban Baseball royalty.
Leaving Cuba at 31
I was lucky to capture him in action in Havana multiple times before he made his way to America in 2016. Gurriel first rose to prominence as a second baseman for Cuba in the 2006 World Baseball Classic. Speculation he would leave Cuba abounded for a decade before it became reality. When he and younger brother Lourdes Jr. left during the Caribbean Series it was a signal that any player could get out. Many speculated Yuli would be the first player to legally sign with an MLB team. His leaving indicated that an agreement between Cuba and the Major Leagues was not imminent. Yuli was 31 at the time and couldn’t afford to rely on bureaucracy to lead him to the world’s grandest baseball stage.
The Japan Season That Made His Case
Gurriel needed a higher league to compete in and had already succeeded in Japan with Yokohama. He was putting up a .500/.589/.874 slash line with 15 HR and 51 RBI in just 174 At bats at the time of his defection. Elite Cuban sluggers have put up some gaudy numbers but none as ridiculous as Yuli in 2015-2016. Perhaps the most impressive number was his minuscule 3 strike outs against 38 walks.
The Walk-Off in Havana
Yuli Gurriel would be as advertised and hit a unique walk-off home run during my visit. Cuba has a mercy rule, 10 run lead after 5 innings is a completed game. Yulieski connected in the 6th inning against Ciego de Avila to cement the blow out. Ciego would rebound from that deflating loss and go on to win the title that year. This granted the Tigres the chance to represent Cuba in the Caribbean Series. Ironically the last Cuban uniform Yuli would wear before his defection was of the squad he victimized on that January afternoon.
The Houston Years
Yulieski Gurriel would debut with the Houston Astros in 2016 and enter 2017 as their starting First baseman. The defensive adjustment was the toughest, but Yuli has turned himself into a gold glove calibre player at first. He has become a key contributor for Houston especially as they won their first World Series in his rookie year.
Yuli Gurriel’s Cuban National Series record
| Season | Team | G | AVG | HR |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001–02 | Sancti Spíritus | 87 | .300 | 7 |
| 2002–03 | Sancti Spíritus | 90 | .291 | 16 |
| 2003–04 | Sancti Spíritus | 55 | .358 | 9 |
| 2004–05 | Sancti Spíritus | 89 | .341 | 23 |
| 2005–06 | Sancti Spíritus | 90 | .327 | 27 |
| 2006–07 | Sancti Spíritus | 88 | .345 | 13 |
| 2007–08 | Sancti Spíritus | 79 | .302 | 22 |
| 2008–09 | Sancti Spíritus | 84 | .399 | 22 |
| 2009–10 | Sancti Spíritus | 89 | .363 | 30 |
| 2010–11 | Sancti Spíritus | 87 | .339 | 20 |
| 2011–12 | Sancti Spíritus | 89 | .324 | 22 |
| 2012–13 | Sancti Spíritus | 79 | .325 | 8 |
| 2013–14 | Industriales | 81 | .313 | 16 |
| 2014–15 | Industriales | 49 | .343 | 7 |
| 2015–16 | Industriales | 49 | .500 | 15 |
| 15 seasons | 1,185 | .340 | 257 |
The 2008–09 line — .399 over 84 games — is the one Cuban fans still argue about. The .500 in 49 games in 2015–16 was his last act in a Cuban uniform. In between he spent 2014 in Japan with the Yokohama DeNA BayStars, hitting .305 with 11 home runs in 62 games, the season that proved his bat travelled.
What happened after these photographs
Gurriel left Cuba in February 2016, after the Caribbean Series in the Dominican Republic, and signed with the Houston Astros. He was 32 — an age at which most Cuban defectors are treated as finished — and he played ten Major League seasons.
| Year | Team | G | AVG | HR | RBI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Houston Astros | 36 | .262 | 3 | 15 |
| 2017 | Houston Astros | 139 | .299 | 18 | 75 |
| 2018 | Houston Astros | 136 | .291 | 13 | 85 |
| 2019 | Houston Astros | 144 | .298 | 31 | 104 |
| 2020 | Houston Astros | 57 | .232 | 6 | 22 |
| 2021 | Houston Astros | 143 | .319 | 15 | 81 |
| 2022 | Houston Astros | 146 | .242 | 8 | 53 |
| 2023 | Miami Marlins | 108 | .245 | 4 | 27 |
| 2024 | Kansas City Royals | 18 | .241 | 0 | 6 |
| 2025 | San Diego Padres | 16 | .111 | 0 | 3 |
| 10 seasons | 943 | .278 | 98 | 471 |
The peak came late. He drove in 104 runs in 2019, then won the 2021 American League batting title at .319 in his age-37 season. He has two World Series rings with Houston, from 2017 and 2022. After the second he moved on — Miami in 2023, Kansas City in 2024, San Diego in 2025 — and has been a free agent since May 2025.
Which Gurriel is which
Three Gurriel brothers played professionally, and they get mixed up constantly. Yuniesky is the eldest — sixteen Serie Nacional seasons for Sancti Spíritus, then the Québec Capitales, where he won the Can-Am batting title in 2015. Yulieski — Yuli — is the middle brother and the subject of this page. Lourdes Jr., born 1993, is the youngest, an All-Star outfielder in the Major Leagues. Their father, Lourdes Gourriel Sr., was a Cuban National Series star and later a manager. If you are looking for a Gurriel who played in Québec, or one who reached a World Series with Arizona, you want one of the brothers, not this one.
More on Cuban baseball
- How Cuban baseball is organised: leagues, federation and how players get out
- All 16 Serie Nacional teams, stadiums and titles
- Team Cuba: the national team’s full competition record
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