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Kansas City's Luke Maile smoked a line drive off the left field wall to open the top of the third inning in Tuesday's Diamondbacks-Royals spring training game.
Arizona left fielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr. played the carom perfectly, then fired the ball toward second base. Maile barely beat the throw.
The play was indicative of the kind of defense Gurriel has provided in his time with the Diamondbacks, a part of his game that might have been overlooked or unknown when Gurriel arrived in a trade prior to the 2023 season. And even though he committed five errors last season — and later on Tuesday lost a ball in the sun — Gurriel put in the work on his defense to become a Gold Glove finalist in 2024.
"I switched to outfield full time in 2019," Gurriel said in Spanish. "Since then I've been trying to get better year by year. It was really important to me to be a finalist, to be able to get to that point."
The deal that brought Gurriel and catcher Gabriel Moreno to Arizona in exchange for Daulton Varsho gave the Diamondbacks two key pieces in their run to the World Series in 2023. Gurriel has since earned a three-year contract.
Gurriel's ability to hit for a good average and provide power from the right side kept him in the Diamondbacks' plans. But last season, his 239 putouts in left field (127 games) were second most in the National League, a sign that his defense is also a factor.
It comes from focusing on the outfield defense basics, like taking good angles on fly balls, playing caroms and making accurate throws back into the infield.
"This team didn't know me well when I first got here," Gurriel said. "I knew I had to show what skills I had and that's how it went. From the first year here, I kept getting better."
Gurriel credited Diamondbacks first base coach Dave McKay with helping him improve.
"Truth be told, he's helped me so much since I got here," Gurriel said. "I'd never played at Chase Field before. Just working hard from Day 1 on the areas in which I was struggling."
Gurriel came up to the majors with the Toronto Blue Jays and was an infielder in his early days. He moved to left field before coming to the Diamondbacks, but wasn't typically recognized for his glove.
McKay emphasized going hard after a ball, getting to it and throwing it in quickly to a cutoff man or a base without holding onto it, essentially the basics of outfield defense.
"He's pretty gifted," McKay said. "We do drills and I make sure we're doing the drills right, nothing out of the ordinary."
McKay just told Gurriel not to make mistakes, and don't try to make things happen.
"You always grade out high if you're getting to the ball as quick as you can," McKay said. "How many balls are you going to get a day? One, two, three? A lot? Four? Can you go hard four times? So that's what we did. I think the outfielders that want to make things happen, those are the ones that make mistakes."
Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said Gurriel will eventually win a Gold Glove. He said there was a noticeable improvement in Gurriel's defense last season.
"I'm going to put that on record," Lovullo said. "He is working extremely hard. The jumps and reads and breaks have been fantastic. ... He knows what the priorities are for this ball club.
"He's got a great teacher in Dave McKay, and he's accepting that teaching and going out there and improving every day."
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: How Diamondbacks' Dave McKay helped Lourdes Gurriel Jr.'s defense
Continue reading...
Arizona left fielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr. played the carom perfectly, then fired the ball toward second base. Maile barely beat the throw.
The play was indicative of the kind of defense Gurriel has provided in his time with the Diamondbacks, a part of his game that might have been overlooked or unknown when Gurriel arrived in a trade prior to the 2023 season. And even though he committed five errors last season — and later on Tuesday lost a ball in the sun — Gurriel put in the work on his defense to become a Gold Glove finalist in 2024.
"I switched to outfield full time in 2019," Gurriel said in Spanish. "Since then I've been trying to get better year by year. It was really important to me to be a finalist, to be able to get to that point."
The deal that brought Gurriel and catcher Gabriel Moreno to Arizona in exchange for Daulton Varsho gave the Diamondbacks two key pieces in their run to the World Series in 2023. Gurriel has since earned a three-year contract.
Gurriel's ability to hit for a good average and provide power from the right side kept him in the Diamondbacks' plans. But last season, his 239 putouts in left field (127 games) were second most in the National League, a sign that his defense is also a factor.
It comes from focusing on the outfield defense basics, like taking good angles on fly balls, playing caroms and making accurate throws back into the infield.
"This team didn't know me well when I first got here," Gurriel said. "I knew I had to show what skills I had and that's how it went. From the first year here, I kept getting better."
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Gurriel credited Diamondbacks first base coach Dave McKay with helping him improve.
"Truth be told, he's helped me so much since I got here," Gurriel said. "I'd never played at Chase Field before. Just working hard from Day 1 on the areas in which I was struggling."
Gurriel came up to the majors with the Toronto Blue Jays and was an infielder in his early days. He moved to left field before coming to the Diamondbacks, but wasn't typically recognized for his glove.
McKay emphasized going hard after a ball, getting to it and throwing it in quickly to a cutoff man or a base without holding onto it, essentially the basics of outfield defense.
"He's pretty gifted," McKay said. "We do drills and I make sure we're doing the drills right, nothing out of the ordinary."
McKay just told Gurriel not to make mistakes, and don't try to make things happen.
"You always grade out high if you're getting to the ball as quick as you can," McKay said. "How many balls are you going to get a day? One, two, three? A lot? Four? Can you go hard four times? So that's what we did. I think the outfielders that want to make things happen, those are the ones that make mistakes."
Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said Gurriel will eventually win a Gold Glove. He said there was a noticeable improvement in Gurriel's defense last season.
"I'm going to put that on record," Lovullo said. "He is working extremely hard. The jumps and reads and breaks have been fantastic. ... He knows what the priorities are for this ball club.
"He's got a great teacher in Dave McKay, and he's accepting that teaching and going out there and improving every day."
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: How Diamondbacks' Dave McKay helped Lourdes Gurriel Jr.'s defense
Continue reading...
