Gio Urshela

Gio Urshela

33-Year-Old Third Baseman3B
 Free Agent  
Free Agent
2024 Fantasy Outlook
Traded from the Twins to the Angels last winter, Urshela played in 62 games before an unfortunate stumble over first base ended his season. Urshela was diagnosed with a left pelvis fracture, though after visiting with specialists it was determined he would not need surgery. The infielder ditched his crutches last August and expected to have a normal offseason. During his time on the field last season, Urshela continued to hit for a high average thanks to his considerable bat-to-ball skills, albeit with very little power. Now 32 years old, Urshela has only once reached 15 home runs in a season and he chips in little speed, rendering him little more than a one-category play. Having signing a one-year, $1.5 million contract with the Tigers in February, Urshela projects for a utility role in 2024. Comerica Park is a tough park for hitters, but eligibility at both third base and first base helps his case in AL-only formats. Read Past Outlooks
RANKS
Rest of Season
From Preseason
#421
ADP
$Signed a one-year contract with Atlanta in August of 2024.
Launches homer
3BAtlanta Braves  
September 29, 2024
Urshela went 2-for-4 with a solo home run during Sunday's 4-2 loss to Kansas City.
ANALYSIS
Urshela provided Atlanta's lone extra-base hit Sunday, tagging Alec Marsh for a solo homer in the third inning. In 34 games with Atlanta, Urshela has slashed .264/.281/.432 with four home runs, 14 RBI and nine runs across 128 plate appearances.
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Batting Stats
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2024
2023
2022
2021
2020
2019
2018
2017
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Batting Order Slot Breakdown
vs Right-Handed Pitchers
vs RHP
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
#9
11
19
12
17
25
7
vs Left-Handed Pitchers
vs LHP
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
#9
1
9
2
5
6
3
Left/Right Batting Splits
Since 2022
 
 
+4%
OPS vs RHP
2024
 
 
+52%
OPS vs RHP
2023
 
 
+33%
OPS vs LHP
2022
 
 
+2%
OPS vs LHP
OPS PA R HR RBI SB AVG OBP SLG
Since 2022vs Left .688 321 33 3 27 0 .268 .312 .376
Since 2022vs Right .718 919 84 21 113 4 .277 .319 .399
2024vs Left .462 107 7 0 8 0 .177 .243 .219
2024vs Right .701 354 27 9 44 0 .271 .299 .402
2023vs Left .868 53 7 1 6 0 .373 .377 .490
2023vs Right .652 175 15 1 18 3 .276 .314 .337
2022vs Left .775 161 19 2 13 0 .291 .335 .439
2022vs Right .763 390 42 11 51 1 .283 .338 .425
More Splits View More Split Stats
Home/Away Batting Splits
Since 2022
 
 
+4%
OPS at Home
2024
 
 
+15%
OPS on Road
2023
 
 
+22%
OPS at Home
2022
 
 
+13%
OPS at Home
OPS PA R HR RBI SB AVG OBP SLG
Since 2022Home .724 639 57 13 72 3 .282 .322 .402
Since 2022Away .695 601 60 11 68 1 .267 .311 .384
2024Home .606 250 18 5 30 0 .226 .268 .338
2024Away .697 211 16 4 22 0 .278 .308 .389
2023Home .772 112 9 1 8 3 .340 .357 .415
2023Away .635 116 13 1 16 0 .259 .302 .333
2022Home .814 277 30 7 34 0 .310 .357 .456
2022Away .719 274 31 6 30 1 .261 .318 .402
More Splits View More Split Stats
Stat Review
How does Gio Urshela compare to other hitters?
This section compares his stats with all batting seasons from the previous three seasons (minimum 400 plate appearances)*. The bar represents the player's percentile rank. For example, if the bar is halfway across, then the player falls into the 50th percentile for that stat and it would be considered average.

* Exit Velocity and Barrels/PA % are benchmarked against 2019 data (min 400 PA) and Hard Hit Rate is benchmarked against last season's data (min 400 PA). See here for more exit velocity/barrels stats plus an explanation of current limitations with that data set.
  • BB/K
    Walk to strikeout ratio
  • BB Rate
    The percentage of plate appearances resulting in a walk.
  • K Rate
    The percentage of plate appearances resulting in a strikeout.
  • BABIP
    Batting average on balls in play. Measures how many of a batter’s balls in play go for hits.
  • ISO
    Isolated Power. Slugging percentage minus batting average. A computation used to measure a batter's raw power.
  • AVG
    Batting average. Hits divided by at bats.
  • OBP
    On Base Percentage. A measure of how often a batters reaches base. Roughly equal to number of times on base divided by plate appearances.
  • SLG
    Slugging Percentage. A measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at bats.
  • OPS
    On base plus slugging. THe sum of a batter's on-base percentage and slugging percentage.
  • wOBA
    Weighted on-base average. Measures a player's overall offensive contributions per plate appearance. wOBA combines all the different aspects of hitting into one metric, weighting each of them in proportion to their actual run value.
  • Exit Velocity
    The speed of the baseball as it comes off the bat, immediately after a batter makes contact.
  • Hard Hit Rate
    A measure of contact quality from Sports Info Solutions. This stat explains what percentage of batted balls were hit hard vs. medium or soft.
  • Barrels/PA
    The percentage of plate appearances where a batter had a batted ball classified as a Barrel. A Barrel is a batted ball with similar exit velocity and launch angle to past ones that led to a minimum .500 batting average and 1.500 slugging percentage.
  • Expected BA
    Expected Batting Average.
  • Expected SLG
    Expected Slugging Percentage.
  • Sprint Speed
    The speed of a runner from home to first, in feet per second.
  • Ground Ball %
    The percentage of balls put in play that are on the ground.
  • Line Drive %
    The percentage of balls put in play that are line drives.
  • Fly Ball %
    The percentage of balls put in play that are fly balls.
BB/K
0.32
 
BB Rate
5.0%
 
K Rate
15.6%
 
BABIP
.278
 
ISO
.111
 
AVG
.250
 
OBP
.286
 
SLG
.361
 
OPS
.647
 
wOBA
.284
 
Exit Velocity
86.4 mph
 
Hard Hit Rate
24.7%
 
Barrels/PA
3.9%
 
Expected BA
.265
 
Expected SLG
.395
 
Sprint Speed
21.8 ft/sec
 
Ground Ball %
45.9%
 
Line Drive %
23.6%
 
Fly Ball %
30.5%
 
Advanced Batting Stats
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Additional Stats
Games By Position
Defensive Stats
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Batted Ball Stats
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Stats Vs Upcoming Pitchers
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Recent RotoWire Articles Featuring Gio Urshela See More
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51 days ago
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Past Fantasy Outlooks
2023
2022
2021
2020
2019
2018
2017
2016
2015
Urshela bounced back from an injury-plagued 2021 season to find a home at third base with the Twins and post career highs in hits and plate appearances with a productive 119 wRC+. He may have been more valuable with his glove with a 4.6 UZR, which was sixth among third basemen. Urshela makes good contact (his 81.2 contact rate ranked 42nd among qualified batters) which typically results in a plus batting average but he also has slightly above-average power (66th percentile Max Exit Velocity). He had just 14 home runs last season but may have been held back by a 9.1% HR/FB%. He lost shortstop eligibility last season, but still has the upside of a 20-home run hitter with a near .300 batting average and a nice batting average floor. Being traded to the Angels doesn't do much to improve his outlook in a crowded infield, though Urshela should at least be able to garner a handful of starts per week. Still, the move likely represents a downgrade for his fantasy stock.
Urshela probably just wants to forget about 2021 and start fresh in 2022. He was a limping MASH report with time missed because of injuries to his hand, hamstring, shin, knee, back and elbow. Plus he went on the COVID IL... twice. It was not surprising at all that he underperformed all his previous talent benchmarks. His avgEV dropped by 2.5 mph. He just could not catch up to fastballs. Pitchers saw he was hurt and pounded the plate. With the extra balls in the zone, his walk rate went from 10.3% to 4.5% and his strikeouts from 14.4% to 24.7%. We can't give him a complete pass on the season because health is still a question mark, along with his playing time. It really comes down to cost with him. A dual-qualified hitter (SS/3B) with 20-to-30 homer potential and a .300 average is worth taking a chance on. It's just not someone to count on as a core contributor.
Urshela proved his out-of-nowhere 2019 breakthrough was not a fluke with a similarly productive performance last season. While his batting average took a slight dip (from .314 to a still-stellar .298), Urshela's xBA (.315) actually jumped 26 points, his walk rate (10.3%) was nearly double the 5.3% mark he posted the previous season and his strikeout rate dropped to a superb 14.4%. To boot, Urshela again ranked among the best defensive third basemen in the game, placing fourth among players at the hot corner with six defensive runs saved and posting the second-highest defensive runs above average among MLB third basemen. The 29-year-old has only moderate power and is not a threat on the basepaths, but he appears to have staked a claim as the everyday third baseman in a potent lineup, and his valuable on-base skills make him a viable selection in the middle rounds of mixed-league fantasy drafts.
In many ways Urshela was the unsung hero of the Yankees during the 2019 season, as he delivered a .314/.355/.534 slash line with 21 homers in 132 games. He provided some much-needed stability to a lineup that was ravaged by injuries throughout most of the year, and ended up starting 109 games at third base. He's a quality defender at the hot corner and represents a significant upgrade there over 2019 Opening Day third baseman Miguel Andujar (shoulder), who was limited to 12 games last season. Urshela entered the year with only eight home runs in 499 plate appearances for his career, but he posted a .219 ISO and 132 wRC+ in his first year with the Yankees. It's doubtful Urshela can fully replicate his breakout campaign, but he's now in position to secure a starting role in New York for 2020.
Urshela's performance last spring warranted a spot, but an injury suffered late in camp forced him to the disabled list to begin the season. After struggling at the plate during his rehab assignment, the Indians opted to designate him for assignment rather than put him on the big-league roster. The Blue Jays took a chance with him and he appeared in 19 games for the club, but his .233/.283/.326 slash line left much to be desired. As a result, Toronto also cast him off the 40-man roster before trading him to the Yankees in August. Urshela showed improvement at the plate with New York's Triple-A affiliate, but all in all, 2018 was a disappointing season. The 27-year-old makes pretty consistent contact (80.7% career contact rate), but he has middling power, a weak track record in the majors and no clear path back to the big leagues.
As his development as a minor-league player progressed to Triple-A for the first time in 2014, Urshela looked like a slick-fielding third baseman capable of exceeding the low expectations he brought to the table as a prospect, especially since he showed more power at the plate at Double-A and above. The Indians have turned to him in two of the last three seasons when injuries created a need for infield depth on their 25-man roster, but the results have been underwhelming to this point at the top level. Although he's done a nice job limiting strikeouts (17.7 percent K%), a .225/.273/.314 line over 453 plate appearances has left the door open for other players on the organizational depth chart to bypass him in the battle for leftover scraps of playing time. Additionally, Urshela didn't tear the cover off the ball during his time at Triple-A Columbus last year (.266/.321/.374), and increasingly, his future looks like that of a Quad-A player.
Urshela spent all of 2016 with Triple-A Columbus after playing 81 games for Cleveland in 2015 without much success at the plate. While he hit .274 against minor league pitching, Urshela didn't exactly light the world on fire, hitting just eight home runs and slugging .380 without stealing a single base. In addition, his 2016 numbers represented a decline from 2014 where he hit .276 while slugging .476 for Columbus. On the bright side, Urshela lowered his strikeout rate to 11.8 percent, down from 20.1 percent with the Indians. Still, his power numbers are headed in the wrong direction, a trend he'll need to reverse to put himself back on the club's radar as a potential big league starter. Meanwhile, 24-year-old third baseman Jose Ramirez broke out for a huge year for the Indians, and while Ramirez isn't an elite defender at third and could be moved in the future, Urshela will need to show more at the plate to earn another crack at the majors.
Urshela's bid to unseat Lonnie Chisenhall at the hot corner never got off the launch pad in spring due to a balky back and he opened the season at Triple-A Columbus. Chisenhall's slow start with both the bat and glove opened the door for Urshela, who was hitting .272/.298/.469 at Triple-A at the time of his recall in June. His inability to control the strikezone (18 walks, 58 strikeouts in 288 plate appearances) contributed to his offensive struggles with the Tribe as he posted a poor .608 OPS in 81 games for Cleveland. A nagging shoulder injury didn't help either but he, along with shortstop Francisco Lindor, helped solidify the Indians infield defense. After the Indians signed Juan Uribe to a one-year deal this offseason, Urshela will likely begin the year at Triple-A. He'll need to command the strikezone better and get himself into some good hitters' counts if he wants to take full advantage of his moderate power going forward. Unless Uribe gets hurt or struggles mightily, Urshela may have to wait until 2017 to get a crack at playing every day in the big leagues again.
Few third base prospects can match Urshela’s proximity to the big leagues. He played 24 games at Double-A Akron and 104 games at Triple-A Columbus last season, more than holding his own with the stick at both levels. He forced a promotion to Triple-A after slashing .300/.347/.567 with five home runs in just 24 games with Akron, and his numbers remained solid after moving up a level. Urshela hit .276/.331/.473 (.289 BABIP) with 13 home runs in 430 plate appearances with Columbus, and appears on the verge of making his big league debut. The incumbent at the hot corner, Lonnie Chisenhall, hit just .218 in the second half in 2014, and if he gets off to a slow start, Urshela figures to get the first crack at replacing him. While he will likely never put up elite power numbers for the position, he could settle in as a middling option there if he is playing every day.
More Fantasy News
Swats seventh homer
3BAtlanta Braves  
September 22, 2024
Urshela went 2-for-4 with a two-run home run in Saturday's 6-2 win over the Marlins.
ANALYSIS
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Back in lineup
3BAtlanta Braves  
August 30, 2024
Urshela (groin) is batting ninth and playing third base Friday against the Phillies.
ANALYSIS
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Sitting down Thursday
3BAtlanta Braves  
Groin
August 29, 2024
Urshela isn't in Atlanta's lineup for Thursday's game against Philadelphia.
ANALYSIS
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Getting night off
3BAtlanta Braves  
August 28, 2024
Urshela is not in the lineup for Wednesday's game in Minnesota.
ANALYSIS
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Handling everyday role
3BAtlanta Braves  
August 26, 2024
Urshela will start at third base and bat eighth in Monday's game against the Twins.
ANALYSIS
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Latest Fantasy Rumors
Trade on horizon?
3BDetroit Tigers  
July 24, 2024
According to Evan Woodbery of MLive.com, Urshela's expiring contract makes him a candidate to be traded ahead of Tuesday's deadline.
ANALYSIS
The veteran infielder signed a one-year, $1.5 million contract with Detroit in February, so he's an expendable piece even if the club hangs onto its slim playoff hopes and doesn't fully sell at the deadline. Urshela's .252/.290/.340 slash line is underwhelming, but his defense and versatility could still bring some value to contending teams as a bench piece.
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