(Story by Marco Stoovelaar; Photos by Henk Seppen)
  Cuban Yulieski Gurriel promotes to Single-A
Nederlands
  KISSIMMEE, Florida / LANCASTER, California (USA) -
Cuban infielder Yulieski Gurriel has made another step towards his debut in the Major League, as he was promoted to Single-A on Tuesday (August 2).
He now has joined the Lancaster JetHawks, the Single-A Advanced team of the Houston Astros in the California League.
...Yulieski Gurriel playing for Cuba during...
...the 2009 World Championship...
(© Photo: Henk Seppen) |
The 32-year old Gurriel left the Cuban squad in February of this year after completion of the Caribbean Series in the Dominican Republic together with his younger brother Lourdes Gurriel.
When the necessary paperwork was done to make Gurriel eligible to play in the USA, some Major League-clubs gave him a try-out or had talks with him.
On July 16, he was signed by the Houston Astros for a reported 5-year, 47,5 million dollar contract.
The Astros assigned him to the GCL Astros in the Gulf Coast League, which is at the Rookie League-level.
After his work visa was approved, Yulieski Gurriel made his debut last Saturday (July 30) and then went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts.
The Cuban then played his next game on Monday (August 1) and then batted 2-for-4 with a double.
In that game, Dutch short stop Stijn van der Meer made his professional debut, also playing for the Astros.
Gurriel was the designated hitter in both games he played for the Rookie League-team.
On Tuesday, Gurriel was promoted to Single-A Advanced and traveled from Florida to California to join his new team Lancaster JetHawks.
Gurriel played 15 seasons for Sancti Spiritus and Industriales in the National Cuban League, then played in the Japanese Professional League in 2014 for Yokohama DeNA BayStars.
With the Cuban National Team, Gurriel won the World Championship-title in 2003 and 2005 and won the gold medal at the Olympic Games of 2004 in Athens (Greece).
Four years later, Gurriel was a member of th Cuban team that won silver in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing (China).
Gurriel participated in all three World Baseball Classics (2006, 2009, 2013)
While playing for the Cuban Team, Gurriel also won three Intercontinental Cups (2002, 2006, 2010), two Pan American Games (2003, 2007) and one Central American and Caribbean Games (2006).
Gurriel also participated in the Haarlem Baseball Week and World Port Tournament and has faced the Netherlands National Team frequently through the years.
It is expected that Gurriel will be added to the Major League-squad of the Houston Astros somewhere later this month.
(August 2)
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