Mariekson Julius "Didi" Gregorius (born February 18, 1990) is a Curaçaoan-Dutch professional baseball shortstop for the Algodoneros de Unión Laguna of the Mexican League.

He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Cincinnati Reds, Arizona Diamondbacks, New York Yankees, and Philadelphia Phillies.

Gregorius' rise through the Reds' farm system was hindered in 2011 when a chronic kidney malfunction caused him to miss two months of the season, but he made his major league debut in September 2012.

After the 2012 season, with Gregorius' path to the majors blocked by starting shortstop Zack Cozart, Cincinnati traded him to Arizona, where he split his playing time with Chris Owings and Cliff Pennington.

Despite missing several weeks of the 2019 season while recovering from Tommy John surgery, Gregorius continued to hit for power upon his return, with a postseason grand slam securing the Yankees' place in the 2019 American League Championship Series.

His father, Johannes Gregorius Sr., worked as a carpenter and pitched for the Amsterdam Pirates of the Honkbal Hoofdklasse, the Dutch professional baseball league,[1] while his mother, Sheritsa Stroop, had previously played for the Netherlands women's national softball team.

Gregorius, inspired by his older brother Johannes Jr., began playing tee-ball and Little League Baseball in the Netherlands, and took up drawing in his free time.

[1] Jim Stoeckel, a scout for the Cincinnati Reds of Major League Baseball (MLB), became interested in Gregorius after watching him play an under-18 tournament with the Dutch Antilles in 2006.

[4] The Seattle Mariners and San Diego Padres had also expressed interest in Gregorius, but he chose to sign with the Reds because they offered him an opportunity to begin playing professional baseball in the United States rather than in the Venezuelan or Dominican Summer Leagues.

[7] After the regular season, Gregorius played in the Australian Baseball League with the Canberra Cavalry, where he was named as the ABL's Defensive Player of the Year.

Gregorius was ordered not to play baseball and to adopt a vegetarian diet; these lifestyle changes, combined with a medication regimen, allowed him to return to the field after two months of recovery.

[21][22] Gregorius' future with the Reds was hindered by Cozart, a more experienced shortstop who was presumed to have more offensive power, and thus he became an attractive trade target for Cincinnati after the 2012 season.

He was struck in the right temple with a 93 mph (150 km/h) fastball and fell to the ground; ultimately, Gregorius was able to leave the plate on his own, and Cliff Pennington filled in as a pinch runner.

[30] Derek Jeter, the longtime shortstop for the New York Yankees, announced in February 2014 that he would retire at the end of the year, leaving the team to find an appropriate replacement.

[32] Gregorius, who was named the opening day shortstop for the Yankees, told reporters that he was not worried about having to replace Jeter, and that he was more focused on his own performance than any comparisons to the previous infielder.

[37] Gregorius, who entered the 2016 season last in the batting order, had a breakout year, setting career highs with a .447 slugging percentage, 32 doubles, 20 home runs, and 70 RBIs.

[52] Gregorius began the 2018 season with a career-high eight-RBI performance in the Yankee's April 3 home opener against the Tampa Bay Rays, helping to push the team to an 11–4 victory.

[57] On September 23, 2018, Gregorius' game-winning run against the Orioles helped the Yankees clinch a Wild Card berth, but he tore the cartilage in his wrist while sliding home, leaving it in question whether he would be healthy for the postseason.

[59] The Yankees beat the Oakland Athletics 7–2 in the Wild Card game, with Gregorius scoring an RBI on a sacrifice fly that brought home Luke Voit.

[61] Gregorius, who had already suffered an "asymptomatic" partial ulnar collateral ligament tear when he was acquired by the Yankees in 2014, aggravated his injury when he made a throw from the outfield in Game 2 of the ALCS.

[68] The Philadelphia Phillies signed Gregorius to a one-year, $14 million contract on December 16, 2019; he and pitcher Zack Wheeler were considered the team's most important free agent acquisitions for the 2019–20 offseason.

[70] Gregorius proved to be an offensive strength for the Phillies in the pandemic-shortened season: among all MLB shortstops, he was third in RBIs (40), fifth in hits (61) and home runs (10), and sixth in batting average (.286).

[74] On opening day, Gregorius made an over-the-shoulder catch to stop Ozzie Albies and help take the game to extra innings, where the Phillies beat the Atlanta Braves 3–2.

[76] The elbow injury continued to hinder Gregorius through a series of rehab assignments with the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, and on June 16, he was diagnosed with pseudogout and was able to begin an appropriate treatment program.

The shortstop blamed his offensive difficulties on the effects of the COVID-19 vaccine, which he claimed led to his battle with pseudogout, a conclusion that doctors at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia said was incorrect.

At the 2011 Baseball World Cup, after the Netherlands defeated Cuba 2–1 in the final match, Gregorius and his teammates were knighted under the Order of Orange-Nassau, 5th class.

[90] While working out to represent the Netherlands in the 2013 World Baseball Classic, Gregorius suffered a strained ulnar collateral ligament in his elbow, which kept him out of the tournament and much of spring training.

[91] Gregorius did participate in the 2017 tournament, serving primarily as a designated hitter on a Dutch national team with an ample selection of MLB shortstops.

[92] He was an offensive success, batting .348 with one home run and eight RBIs, helping to take the Dutch team to the semifinals, before a hematoma of the subscapularis muscle in Gregorius' shoulder forced him to pull out of the tournament early.

[100] Gregorius briefly stopped posting during the start of the 2019 season, while he was recovering from Tommy John surgery, because he "didn't want to make [the wins] all about me", but resumed when he was activated from the injured list.