Houston Astros: What the team plans to do with Yuli Gurriel

The Houston Astros are coming into Spring Training with one of the deepest teams in recent history, allowing for some versatility. This certainly means big things for Yuli Gurriel. What do they plan to do with him? Take a look.

The Houston Astros first Spring Training game will be tomorrow against the Washington Nationals at the Ballpark of the Palm Beaches in West Palm Beach, Fla. This is a natural match up because the two share the same ballpark but with different facilities on the now-sprawling piece of property.

I had the pleasure of attending Spring Training before the start of last season and let me tell you, the facilities are second-to-none with all the modern amenities a minor league ballpark should have. It’s a HUGE UPGRADE over Osceola County Stadium in Kissimmee, Fla. and they’re right at ground-central for vacationers alike.

Their old stadium was far off the beaten path and doesn’t have the centralized location as does their new facility. I’m not sure if it will be this year but I do plan to go back again to partake in a few games there.

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But anyway, this team is incredibly-gifted from top to bottom and A.J. Hinch is in the fortunate position to figure out what to do with all of this depth. A lot of our guys displayed immense versatility but nobody had more than Marwin Gonzalez who started no more than 47 games at multiple positions through 134 games last season.

But Gurriel is now going to be the latest experiment in regard to moving him around. Hinch wants Gurriel to play third, second as well as shortstop in addition to his primary role of first baseman. I would obviously attest that Hinch wants to keep our position players as fresh as possible through the long, 162-game season so that the run through the postseason is another eventful one like 2017.

Here’s what Yuli had to say about the move via MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart:

"“I love it,” he said. “I’m super excited. I love playing more than one position and I love all positions in the infield, so I’m excited.”"

His eagerness is enough for me to see how this will actually pan out whenever the season starts and I’m sure we’ll get a glimpse of it through the Spring Training period as well. I’ve always heralded his defense and it’s definitely a excellent move by Hinch to showcase Gurriel’s talents even more.

Hinch pointed out as to why he’s doing to Gurriel:

"“His bat-to-ball is really good,” Hinch said. “Any day you need contact, you should have Yuli up to bat. He is going to put the ball in play, and usually it’s going to be pretty hard.”"

We’ll have to wait a few games into the season before we see any type of experiment as he’s suspended the first five games of 2018 for his infamous “eye squint” gesture at Yu Darvish back during the World Series against the Dodgers. But then, all bets are on that he’ll be successful at such a venture.

I can’t wait…

Next: Why the Astros will retain McCann and Gattis beyond 2018

Gurriel, 33, had a slash line of .299/.332/.486 with an OPS of .817 while popping 18 home runs, 75 ribbies and 43 doubles through 529 at-bats in 139 games last season.

Go Astros.

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