PHOENIX — Arizona Diamondbacks outfielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr. said he did not have an exact return date in mind when he started his ACL surgery rehab last fall, but he made sure not to take a day off in order to get back on the field as soon as he could.
Saturday was that triumphant day, as the crowd at Chase Field gave him an ovation during starting lineups and as he took his position in left field.
He battled Max Scherzer for seven pitches in his first at-bat, which ended with his former teammate Vladimir Guerrero Jr. making an over-the-shoulder, sliding catch to rob him of a bloop hit.
Batting clean-up, Gurriel finished 0-for-4 in a 6-2 win over the Toronto Blue Jays, although his highlight came on defense.
Gurriel fielded a ground ball to his right and fired a perfect throw from left field to second base to cut down Myles Straw going for a double.
Like he never left. pic.twitter.com/VK1rxaHnVj
— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) April 19, 2026
Gurriel returned from a torn ACL in seven months and two weeks, a speedy recovery given the typical timeline of about 9-12 months. He was not surprised by it.
“We didn’t really have the timeframe in mind. It was more so a day-by-day progress,” Gurriel said pregame through a Spanish interpreter.
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“When the games were going by, I went through the steps of hitting, hitting then running, and when we saw that progress, we felt it was more realistic.”
He credited the work he put in with his strength coach, Jorge Rivera, back in Miami in helping him progress day-by-day, which he chronicled on Instagram.
From his early workouts to his first swings in the cages to his first slide, he brought his followers and teammates on the journey with him.
“I thought it was crazy how well he healed up from the injury, seeing the videos on Instagram and seeing how well he progressed through the recovery,” center fielder Alek Thomas said.
When asked about watching Gurriel slide in December, Thomas said, “That’s where I was like, that’s crazy.”
Gurriel said the hardest part of the rehab was the mental aspect of it, particularly during the stretches when he felt that the progress was slow.
Even though he recovered quicker than others, this was still the first time he had gone through an extended injury process.
“It was good dedication. It wasn’t rushed or anything. We had a tough offseason and when I got here in February, that’s the reward for that,” Gurriel said.
Gurriel felt that he received enough at-bats on the backfields at Salt River Fields and on a two-game rehab assignment with Double-A Amarillo to get up to speed.
“There was a lot behind the scenes when he showed up to Arizona, we were just like, what is going on right now?” right fielder Corbin Carroll said. “It’s awesome to see him back.”
Next for Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and Diamondbacks
Manager Torey Lovullo said the plan is for Gurriel to play left field again on Sunday.
The Diamondbacks have Monday off before starting a three-game series against the Chicago White Sox, and Lovullo anticipates Gurriel being in the lineup for all three of those contests.
“This is tied into the medical team, and we’re still going to be very guarded with him,” Lovullo said. “We don’t want anything to go backwards with his knee.
“But the volume from the time he steps on the field, how many full-out sprints does he make, what’s that distance, how many catches does he make, does the knee swell up, those types of things, we don’t anticipate that being an issue. … We feel like he can play two in a row here, off day and then go three in a row. We will make adjustments depending on how he’s feeling or volume, and also we’ll make some DH days there as well.”
The D-backs have another off day on Friday, as they head to Mexico City to face the San Diego Padres for two games.
They will then get another off day to travel to Milwaukee, a schedule that allows them to work Gurriel in slowly without him missing any games.
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