{"id":571189,"date":"2026-02-14T00:32:41","date_gmt":"2026-02-14T00:32:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/571189\/"},"modified":"2026-02-14T00:32:41","modified_gmt":"2026-02-14T00:32:41","slug":"lourdes-gurriel-jr-returns-to-action-for-diamondbacks-with-batting-practice-reps-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/571189\/","title":{"rendered":"Lourdes Gurriel Jr. returns to action for Diamondbacks with batting practice reps"},"content":{"rendered":"

PHOENIX \u2013 When Lourdes Gurriel Jr. stepped into the cage this week, it wasn\u2019t just routine batting practice. It was a breath of fresh air and sigh of relief for him, and for D-backs fans after he suffered a torn right ACL injury late last season.<\/p>\n

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Aug 11, 2025; Arlington, Texas, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks designated hitter Lourdes Gurriel Jr. (12) during the game between the Texas Rangers and the Arizona Diamondbacks at Globe Life Field. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

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Lourdes Gurriel Jr. gets batting practice reps in:<\/p>\n

On Sept. 1st last season against the Texas Rangers, Gurriel Jr. tore his ACL while avoiding a collision with former D-backs outfielder Blaze Alexander, a split-second decision that protected a teammate but cost him his season. Standard recovery timelines for ACL injuries run 9\u201312 months, particularly for position players who rely on rotational torque and lateral explosiveness.<\/p>\n

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Sep 1, 2025; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Arizona outfielder Gurriel Jr. (12) is attended to by his teammates after his injury in the sixth inning during the game between the Texas Rangers and Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Arianna Grainey-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

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That\u2019s why the video of Gurriel Jr. getting batting practice work matters. Hitting is often a tough physical hurdle in ACL rehab because it demands lower-half stability. The back knee must anchor as the front leg must brace. Generating power without compensating is the true test. Bat speed returning this early suggests strength benchmarks are being met ahead of schedule.<\/p>\n

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Sep 1, 2025; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks outfielder Gurriel Jr. (12) at bat in the first inning during the game between the Texas Rangers and Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Arianna Grainey-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Manager Torey Lovullo has noted that Gurriel Jr.\u2019s progress is ahead of schedule, citing daily work ethic and conditioning gains. For Arizona, that\u2019s strategically significant. Gurriel Jr. isn\u2019t just a lineup piece; he\u2019s run production. Before the injury, he was a middle-order stabilizer who lengthened at-bats and punished mistakes. For Arizona fans, recovery isn\u2019t linear, but visible progress reduces uncertainty. It reshapes roster projections and also restores clubhouse energy, as Gurriel Jr. has become a clubhouse leader over his time in the desert. In a season where margins matter, any chance of an early return would bring back a major piece of the puzzle for Arizona.<\/p>\n

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Get the BEST Phoenix sports insider information, and exclusive content. SIGN UP HERE to unlock our premium content!*Reporter Benjamin Bliklen covers the Arizona Diamondbacks, Arizona Cardinals, and Phoenix Suns for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on his X account, @BenBliklen<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PHOENIX \u2013 When Lourdes Gurriel Jr. stepped into the cage this week, it wasn\u2019t just routine batting practice.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":571190,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2404],"tags":[146,13975,22,4314,5,3180,30643,38,75173,18080,1447,10498,4,645,15818,1567,69],"class_list":{"0":"post-571189","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arizona-diamondbacks","8":"tag-arizona","9":"tag-arizona-cardinals","10":"tag-arizona-diamondbacks","11":"tag-arizonadiamondbacks","12":"tag-baseball","13":"tag-batting-practice","14":"tag-blaze-alexander","15":"tag-diamondbacks","16":"tag-gurriel-jr","17":"tag-jerome-miron-imagn","18":"tag-lourdes-gurriel-jr","19":"tag-mandatory-credit","20":"tag-mlb","21":"tag-phoenix","22":"tag-phoenix-suns","23":"tag-texas","24":"tag-texas-rangers"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116066173381145782","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/571189","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=571189"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/571189\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/571190"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=571189"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=571189"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=571189"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}