It was clear that Gurriel was injured on Monday evening. He and midfielder Blaze Alexander both chased a ball into the opening. Gurriel jumped to avoid his teammate, but then collapsed on the ground in clear pain. Eventually he had to be taken away, unable to set up his leg correctly.
Tuesday’s diagnosis is clearly terrible for both Gurriel and the snakes. They have not announced an expected timeline, but a torn ACL can often need something of recovery before the player is at full power again. Gurriel will certainly miss the rest of this season and also a remarkable piece of 2026.
Gurriel was initially acquired prior to the 2023 season next to Gabriel Moreno, as part of trade He sent Dulton Varsho to the Blue Jays. Gurriel was an approaching free agent at the time, but again drew after a good season in Arizona. He returned via a three-year pact of $ 42 million with a club option for 2027 and an opt-out chance for him after 2025.
Activating the opt-out was not particularly likely. He only hits this year .248/.295/.418, where that line translates into a 94 WRC+. However, he has 19 home runs and it is possible that the general lack of production is due to a .254 stroke average on balls in the game. That is far below this year’s .291 competition average and Gurriel’s personal career percentage of .305.
His decision would have been effective whether he felt that he could beat a year and $ 18 million. His current contract will pay him $ 13 million next year, with a buy -out of $ 5 million in the $ 14 million club option for 2027. Maybe a hot finish could have thought to run away from that money, but it is now a disputed point. Because he will miss part of next year next year, he will certainly look his opt-out chance.
For the Diamondbacks, this contributes to their bodywork of 2026 well before the season has even started. Corbin Burnes required Tommy John operation in June and will therefore miss the most or perhaps all upcoming campaign. Tommy Henry, Blake Walston, AJ Puk and Justin Martínez also underwent UCL operations this year and are confronted with long absence. Now Gurriel adds a different name to the list.
Those other names are all pitchers, while Gurriel jerks off an important part of the club’s outfield mix. Without him, the Outfield 2026 consists of boys Corbin Carroll, Alek Thomas, Jake McCarthy, Jorge Barrosa and Alexander. Carroll is a star, but it is then a questionable group. Thomas is in his fourth season and has good defensive figures, but he did not hit.
McCarthy has occasionally shown competence flashes on the record, but his good seasons may have been fed by Babip Luck and he has been terrible this year. Alexander now has a nice run, but he spreads a lot and only recently moved from the Infield to the Outfield. Barrosa has only 58 big league plate performances and is not yet impressed.
In the winter the diamondbacks have a lot to do. Given their injuries, deadline transactions and approaching free agents, they have to make their entire pitching again again. They have doubts in the Infield corners after trading Josh Naylor and Eugenio Suárez at the deadline. Those places can be filled by boys like Jordan Lawlar and Tyler Locklear, but neither is a lock not yet.
Gurriel could have been a solid regular ordinary team in next year’s team, but now there is another thing on the task list.
#Key #Diamondbacks #Outfielder #diagnosed #torn #ACL