Gio Urshela

Gio Urshela

31-Year-Old Third Baseman3B
Los Angeles Angels
2023 Fantasy Outlook
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. Read Past Outlooks
RANKS
#448
ADP
$Signed a one-year, $8.4 million contract with the Angels in arbitration in February of 2023.
Will see some action at shortstop
3BLos Angeles Angels
February 28, 2023
Urshela is expected to play a good amount of shortstop this spring, Sam Blum of The Athletic reports.
ANALYSIS
The position is not totally foreign to Urshela, who has 43 appearances at shortstop over seven major-league seasons. Angels manager Phil Nevin noted that Urshela lost some weight over the offseason in anticipation of maybe getting more of an opportunity at short. Urshela will also serve as insurance at both corner infield spots with Jared Walsh and Anthony Rendon each coming back from major injuries.
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Batting Stats
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2022
2021
2020
2019
2018
2017
2022 MLB Game Log
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2021 MLB Game Log
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2020 MLB Game Log
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2019 MLB Game Log
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2018 MLB Game Log
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Minor League Game Log
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Batting Order Slot Breakdown
vs Right-Handed Pitchers
vs RHP
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
#9
1
1
9
25
24
10
18
2
vs Left-Handed Pitchers
vs LHP
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
#9
1
8
17
8
10
1
Left/Right Batting Splits
Since 2020
 
 
+1%
OPS vs LHP
2022
 
 
+2%
OPS vs LHP
2021
 
 
+12%
OPS vs LHP
2020
 
 
+33%
OPS vs RHP
OPS PA R HR RBI SB AVG OBP SLG
Since 2020vs Left .768 336 35 6 27 1 .286 .330 .437
Since 2020vs Right .760 831 92 27 116 2 .277 .327 .432
2022vs Left .775 161 19 2 13 0 .291 .335 .439
2022vs Right .763 390 42 11 51 1 .283 .338 .425
2021vs Left .778 138 13 4 13 1 .293 .312 .466
2021vs Right .693 304 29 10 36 0 .254 .296 .397
2020vs Left .678 37 3 0 1 0 .233 .378 .300
2020vs Right .902 137 21 6 29 1 .314 .365 .537
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Home/Away Batting Splits
Since 2020
 
 
+18%
OPS at Home
2022
 
 
+13%
OPS at Home
2021
 
 
+19%
OPS at Home
2020
 
 
+24%
OPS at Home
OPS PA R HR RBI SB AVG OBP SLG
Since 2020Home .830 552 62 19 69 1 .306 .350 .480
Since 2020Away .704 595 64 14 73 2 .257 .309 .395
2022Home .814 277 30 7 34 0 .310 .357 .456
2022Away .719 274 31 6 30 1 .261 .318 .402
2021Home .791 191 19 6 17 0 .302 .335 .456
2021Away .666 251 23 8 32 1 .239 .275 .391
2020Home .976 84 13 6 18 1 .303 .357 .618
2020Away .786 70 10 0 11 0 .316 .400 .386
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
0.43
 
BB Rate
7.4%
 
K Rate
17.4%
 
BABIP
.326
 
ISO
.144
 
AVG
.285
 
OBP
.338
 
SLG
.429
 
OPS
.767
 
wOBA
.335
 
Exit Velocity
88.9 mph
 
Hard Hit Rate
33.5%
 
Barrels/PA
5.3%
 
Expected BA
.268
 
Expected SLG
.416
 
Sprint Speed
22.0 ft/sec
 
Ground Ball %
42.5%
 
Line Drive %
22.8%
 
Fly Ball %
34.7%
 
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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Past Fantasy Outlooks
2022
2021
2020
2019
2018
2017
2016
2015
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
Loses in arbitration
3BLos Angeles Angels
February 18, 2023
Urshela lost his arbitration case against the Angels on Saturday, Sam Blum of The Athletic reports.
ANALYSIS
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Traded to Halos
3BLos Angeles Angels
November 18, 2022
The Twins agreed to trade Urshela to the Angels on Friday in exchange for right-hander Alejandro Hidalgo, Jeff Passan of ESPN reports.
ANALYSIS
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Leads offense in loss
3BMinnesota Twins
October 3, 2022
Urshela went 2-for-4 with a two-run home run in Monday's loss to the White Sox.
ANALYSIS
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Scores three times in win
3BMinnesota Twins
September 29, 2022
Urshela went 3-for-4 with a double and three runs scored in Wednesday's win over the White Sox.
ANALYSIS
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Four hits across doubleheader
3BMinnesota Twins
September 17, 2022
Urshela went 4-for-9 with a double, two RBI, a run scored and a walk as the Twins were swept by the Guardians in Saturday's doubleheader.
ANALYSIS
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