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Lourdes Gurriel Jr. 2023 Fantasy Outlook: In A New Home Coming Off Wrist Surgery
2 years agoThere are several factors to account for when looking at Lourdes Gurriel Jr.'s 2023 fantasy outlook. The first, and biggest one, is that he has moved from one of the best hitter's parks in baseball in Rogers Centre and one of the best lineups in the Toronto Blue Jays to the National League after the Arizona Diamondbacks acquired him in an offseason trade. He'll spend the final year of the seven-year, $22 million deal he signed with Toronto in 2016 with the D-backs. When coupled with his concerning drop in power in 2022 (only five home runs in 121 games) that could be contributed to a wrist injury that required surgery in October, there's more than one reason for fantasy managers to be skeptical. The good news is that Gurriel still hit almost .300 with a strong .343 on-base percentage and career-low strikeout rate. The 29-year-old should be fully healthy for Opening Day and will be a lineup fixture for the rebuilding Diamondbacks. It's perfectly fine to be skeptical as to whether he can return to the 20-homer mark, but he's still a worthy fourth or fifth outfielder in mixed leagues that should provide a useful average and OBP.
