Blue Jays: Lourdes Gurriel Jr. eclipses rookie record

Toronto Blue Jays rookie Lourdes Gurriel Jr. made history last night eclipsing a team record accomplished in 1977 by Al Woods.

Lourdes Gurriel Jr. notched a double and a single in yesterdays loss to the Minnesota Twins capping eight consecutive games where the rookie has collected two or more hits. During the record-breaking stretch, Gurriel has recorded 17 hits and boosted his average on the season to .297.

Through the month of July, Gurriel is hitting .393/.414/.554 with 22 hits including 2 home runs in 14 contests. Even more impressive is that Gurriel was sidelined for a week in July after experiencing concussion-like symptoms following a collision at first base with Red Sox hurler Eduardo Rodriguez.

The Jays signed Gurriel to a 7 year/$22 million dollar pact in the 2016 offseason so it is encouraging to see him making good on that commitment. Gurriel is proving that he can play every day at the major league level and a credit to Manager John Gibbons for having the faith in the youngster and providing him with that opportunity after some early struggles.

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Positionally the Blue Jays will have to find a spot for him on the field moving forward, this season Gurriel has played 21 games at second base and another 19 games at shortstop. There is a current logjam with Devon Travis, Aledmys Diaz, and Troy Tulowitzki if ever returns at these positions. Both Travis and Diaz have struggled at times offensively this season opening the door for Gurriel.

You would have to assume the double play combination of the very near future would include Gurriel at second base and prospect Bo Bichette eventually taking over the helm at shortstop making the above-mentioned players expendable.

Regardless of how it all ends up, the 24-year old has made Blue Jays history becoming the first player to ever record 8 consecutive multi-hit games in his rookie campaign. Congrats Lourdes!