NEW YORK – Lourdes Gurriel Jr., tucked his hair underneath a cap, stood up from the chair before his locker in the visitors’ clubhouse at Yankee Stadium, looked to his left, and slowly ran his fingers over the lettering on a blue No. 13 Toronto Blue Jays jersey hanging in the stall.
In ways big and small, right down to the nameplate on his uniform, the 24-year-old Cuban made sure to soak in all he could from his first moments as a big-leaguer Friday.
“It’s something that’s very impressive,” the newly recalled infielder, speaking through interpreter Josue Peley, said ahead of his debut against the New York Yankees. “In spring training, you don’t have your name on the jersey and coming here, looking at the jersey and seeing the Gurriel and the Jr., it’s really amazing.
“I’m really happy and really excited.”
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The Blue Jays recalled Gurriel as part of a minor roster shuffle, with countryman and close friend Kendrys Morales activated from the disabled list with infielder Gift Ngoepe and reliever Tim Mayza optioned to triple-A Buffalo to make room for them.
The juggling meant that hot-hitting Teoscar Hernandez remains with the team for now, though the roster’s makeup is less than ideal with five outfielders and a DH only in Morales, and a further crunch looms when Josh Donaldson is ready to return from his shoulder inflammation.
“We do have a logjam,” admitted manager John Gibbons. “We’ll make sure they all play. It won’t be ideal, but we’ll make sure they all get something in there. I think that’s important, because most of them are swinging it.”
As for Hernandez, again batting second and starting in left field, “I think it would be crazy not to have him in there,” said Gibbons. “He’s giving us good at-bats, he’s giving us production. … He’s really locked in and has a ton of talent, too.”
Operating under a strict meritocracy amid a period of roster surplus is the sensible approach for the Blue Jays, who are trying to build on a strong start and are in the midst of a challenging stretch versus the Yankees and Boston Red Sox.
Gurriel, signed to a $22-million, seven-year deal in November 2016, has a chance to earn himself more playing time than the Blue Jays were allocating to Ngoepe. Devon Travis remains on a two-games-on, one-game-off plan but Gibbons left open the possibility that Gurriel could get some playing time at shortstop, as well.
“We’ll see how he’s swinging it,” said Gibbons.
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Gurriel was mashing the ball at double-A New Hampshire, where he batted .347/.382/.510 in 12 games, and he offers more athleticism and flexibility to a lineup that lacked both last season. Getting a sense of what he offers now is important as veteran Danny Espinosa, currently at triple-A Buffalo, has an out in his minor-league deal at month’s end and is the next contingency to back up the middle infield.
Gurriel struggled through his first season as a pro but began turning heads during a strong showing in the Arizona Fall League and had tongues wagging during spring training.
“I was really prepared, I prepared myself during the off-season and it’s been paying off pretty well,” said Gurriel, whose points of emphasis included everything from defensive work to his diet. “I worked on every single thing in order to be ready, just keep going with that and I think it’s been going pretty well so far.”
New Hampshire manager John Schneider broke news of the callup to Gurriel, who promptly phoned his dad, leading to a larger group call with his immediate family. He later spoke separately to older brother Yulieski, a member of the Houston Astros.
“It was an incredible experience to talk to them and share the news,” he said.
On Friday, the incredible experiences kept coming, from seeing his full name on a Blue Jays jersey, to standing off to the side of the visitors’ dugout and surveying the scene at Yankee Stadium.
“It’s a dream come true,” he said. “Just coming here, getting into Yankee Stadium, walking into the locker-room, looking at the guys, it’s just a dream come true for me.”
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