From his hair to his feet, Lourdes Gurriel Jr. is impressing with the Blue Jays

Lourdes Gurriel Jr. is serious about his hair.

His meticulous routine can take up to 20 minutes each morning, he said. He first straightens his natural curls then applies a grease that allows him to mould his locks into any style of his choosing.

Most often, a thick strip of hair is slicked back atop his head that is otherwise closely shaven. Other times, if he runs his hands through it, he can manipulate it so that it stands completely upright, looking a little like a mad scientist.

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“I spend a lot, a lot, a lot of time (on it),” he said through Blue Jays translator Josue Peley. “I have treatments and I have a routine that I need to keep in order to keep my hair like that.”

Gurriel’s on-point hair is the result of sheer dedication. On the baseball diamond, it appears, he applies that same principle.

“Hard worker,” said Blue Jays infield coach Luis Rivera of what he observed of the 24-year-old during spring training this year. “From the first groundball to the last groundball he’s into it, and he plays every groundball like a game…which is great for a young kid.”

It was also during spring training that Rivera thought that the young kid, who was ranked the Blue Jays fifth-best prospect by Baseball America in 2018, was not far off from becoming a big-leaguer. Still, count Rivera among the people not expecting Gurriel’s early season promotion from Double A to the Blue Jays.

“I didn’t know it was going to be that quick,” Rivera said this week. “But from what I’ve seen so far, he’s doing a great job.”

Since being called up from New Hampshire last week, the 24-year-old Gurriel, from his hair to his feet, has looked like he belongs under the bright lights of the big leagues. In just over a week in the majors, Gurriel has shown power at the plate, speed on the base paths, agility on the field, all while flashing his wide smile that is infectious.

“I feel great, mostly because the teammates, they’re treating me well,” Gurriel said. “They’re welcoming me here and thanks to them, I’m feeling confident and I feel good.”

According to his manager, he has looked good, too.

“I liked the way he swung the bat, I liked his defence and he just looked like he belonged,” John Gibbons said earlier this week, a few days after the infielder’s major-league debut in New York.

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In seven games with the Blue Jays, Gurriel has swung the bat well en route to collecting five hits. Two of those came in that debut at Yankee Stadium on April 20 when he earned three RBIs, becoming just the fourth Blue Jay to hit three RBIs in his first start.

He has shown off his speed, as well. Against the Boston Red Sox on Wednesday, Gurriel legged out an infield single before stealing second — his first career stolen base in the majors — then slid hard into home plate to score from second on a Steve Pearce single.

According to Statcast sprint speed data, Gurriel averages 27.8 feet per second, fifth on the team. The major-league average is 27 feet per second.

“It’s something that I really like in my game,” Gurriel said. “I couldn’t show it last year because I got hurt so this year, coming here, in good form…I’m going to try and do it every time. I like to play hard, I like to run the bases hard, I like to slide in hard.”

Added Rivera: “I know he can run well, he moves well, he’s got a lot of agility. So that might be something that we got to explore — see what we can get out of that speed that he’s showing.”

On defence, Gurriel has fit seamlessly into the Blue Jays lineup, playing a mix of second base and shortstop.

In Cuba, where Gurriel began playing professionally at 16, he played every infield position as well as left field. Since joining the Toronto organization in late 2016, he has primarily played shortstop and second base.

With the Blue Jays, Gibbons said Gurriel could play third “if we had to” but he’ll be used mostly at second and short for the foreseeable future.

Compared to last season, Rivera said he’s seen an improvement in Gurriel’s play in the field, but there is still work to be done.

“He’s got to practise three different positions, sometimes that’s tough for a young kid, but so far he’s doing a nice job,” Rivera said. “He’s got to create better angles on his throws, which last year, he was having a hard time doing it. This year, he made a lot of progress, so he’s more accurate this year.”

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With this recent promotion to the big leagues, Gurriel’s ascension within the organization has been accelerated. He had played only 76 games in the minors, and just 12 at the Double-A level, before joining the Blue Jays this month. The last Blue Jay to make the jump from Double A to the majors was Anthony Alford — another top prospect — who did it last season.

For Gurriel, the major adjustment between the levels has been preparing for his at-bats.

“The biggest thing has been the adjustment pitch per pitch,” he said. “Here, every single pitch, the situation changes. Here you have to study more, you get more data, you get more videos and you get to work on different things — how the pitcher’s pitching, how he’s going to throw to you, what did he do last at-bat compared to this at-bat.”

That Gurriel appears to be a quick study could be due to his good genes. His father, Lourdes, was an elite player in Cuba and his older brother, Yuli, plays first base for the Houston Astros.

In early 2016, the brothers embarked on a trying journey together to defect from their native country in order to pursue a baseball career in North America.

That same year, Yuli signed a five-year contract with the Astros in July. Four months later — in November — Lourdes Jr. inked his own seven-year deal with the Blue Jays worth $22-million.

The two brothers, nine years apart, are close, according to the younger sibling. They try to talk daily and whenever their schedules allow it, they will watch each other’s games closely, always willing to discuss a particular at-bat or play afterward. The younger Gurriel said he’s been inspired by the success of his older brother.

Last season, when Yuli and his Astros won the World Series, Lourdes Jr. was there to watch.

“When he signed with the Astros and he started getting to the bigs, I saw him play and I wanted to be at that place too,” said Gurriel. “That was just a bonus that he won the World Series, and I was really happy to live that with him, but also it makes me just want to try to live that moment too for me.”

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Lourdes Gurriel Jr.’s first pro season in North America was one of trials and tribulations. There was rust after missing a year of baseball because of the defection process. Then injuries to his thumb and hamstring limited him to just 64 games in the minors. There was also a language barrier that left him feeling isolated from his teammates.

“I like to know my teammates, I like to know where I am, I like to explain myself, so it was something (that was) really hard for me, but on the baseball field, I didn’t have any big adjustments to make because I played my whole life and baseball’s still the same everywhere you go,” he said. “When I got to the Blue Jays, I’ve been lucky enough to where I have a lot of teammates that speak Spanish and English and they’ve been helpful.”

One of those Spanish speakers is Kendrys Morales. Gurriel’s locker is located beside Morales’ in the Blue Jays’ clubhouse. For Gurriel, Morales is not just a fellow Cuban, but a longtime friend and a mentor.

“He’s been treating me like a brother and he’s been showing me the life of a big leaguer, not just on, but off the field,” Gurriel said.

Morales has known Gurriel since he was about six years old. When he heard he was getting recalled to the Blue Jays, he naturally felt both “proud and happy,” he said through Peley.

The pair spent the off-season training together in Miami, working primarily on conditioning, nutrition as well as hitting. Gurriel said he put an emphasis on his diet and fitness in order to prepare his body for the long season ahead.

“Nowadays nutrition and being in good form is something that’s really important because it gives you energy in order to go and play every day, like 100 per cent,” he said. “It’s something that I didn’t have the year before; I got hurt. So I knew it was something really important for me.”

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His hard work paid off quickly in the 2018 season. Through 12 games in Double A, Gurriel batted .347/.382/.510 with 17 hits. The night before he was promoted to the Blue Jays, Gurriel hit a two-run home run and a single in a 5-2 win over the Binghamton Rumble Ponies.

With the Blue Jays, Morales said Gurriel brings versatility, an asset for any MLB club.

“He’s explosive,” said the Blue Jays designated hitter. “He can play different positions and I think for any team, not just this team, for any team, when you can have a player that can run, and that can play a little bit of everywhere, it’s just something really great for a team.”

While Gurriel has impressed during this call-up, the Blue Jays will need to make a roster decision when injured third baseman Josh Donaldson returns to the lineup. Donaldson was scheduled to DH in a Florida State League game on Saturday. With fellow call-up Teoscar Hernández also swinging the ball well for the Jays, and with the team already equipped with super utility infielder Yangervis Solarte, Gurriel is a likely candidate to be sent down.

“Both those guys can hit,” Gibbons said of Hernández and Gurriel. “I think they’re both going to be real good big-league players.”

On Saturday against the Texas Rangers, Gurriel checked off another big-league milestone: his first home run. Facing the 44-year-old Bartolo Colon, Gurriel hit a 82-mph changeup into left centre-field. In the dugout, the rookie received the customary silent treatment before his teammates eventually congratulated him.

“It’s something I’ll never forget in my life,” he said of the homer. “Of course…with being called up as well.”

Whether Gurriel stays a big-league player throughout this season remains to be seen. But he has looked the part so far — and not just because of his million-dollar hair — and his friend Morales reminded him that nothing is for certain in baseball.

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“The biggest advice that I gave him is to be ready every day ’cause you never know what can happen in this business,” Morales said. “Anything can happen quick, slow — so just to be ready at all times.”

(Main photo: Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports)