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SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. - Sporting the family’s trademark troll doll hair, Lourdes Gurriel Jr. jumped off the 40-minute bus ride from Peoria with some extra hop in his step.

It had nothing to do with playing his 15th game for the Peoria Javelinas in the Arizona Fall League on Thursday in Scottsdale. Gurriel Jr., has obviously been keeping close tabs on the highs and lows of his brother Yuli’s journey through the postseason with the Houston Astros – a journey that ended in Game 7 jubilation about a five-hour drive away in Los Angeles on Wednesday night.

“He’s really proud of his brother because they’re going to have a World Series ring in the house,” Gurriel Jr. said through fellow Cuban Yoel Monzon, who, in addition to playing translator on this day, is the pitching coach for the Seattle Mariners’ rookie level club in Peoria. “Even though it’s his brother’s, it’s in the family.”

It’s just another feather in the cap of one of Cuba’s legendary baseball families.

Lourdes, who just turned 24 last month, and Yuli, 33, talk daily. His older brother is an invaluable resource, relaying what it’s like to be a big leaguer, what it takes, and just about everything in between.

The Toronto Blue Jays prospect almost felt like a part of the Astros’ run because of it.

“He learned a lot because his brother is always keeping him updated about the chemistry on the team and everything that was happening in the clubhouse,” Monzon communicated as Gurriel Jr. grinned. “Sometimes, he feels like he was there, too.”

Assigned to the Arizona Fall League to get some additional at-bats after piling up just 236 of them in his stateside debut this summer, Gurriel Jr.’s focus was split between his games with the Javelinas and the Astros’ chase, which included his brother’s five-game suspension for making a racist gesture towards Dodgers starter Yu Darvish during Game 3 of the series.

“He was a little nervous before Game 7,” said Dunedin Blue Jays hitting coach Corey Hart, who’s spending his fall in the same gig with the Javelinas. “It’s a little more nerve-racking when you have no control over what happens. He kind of got the feel of what a coach feels like. It was great. He was happy for his brother.”

Gurriel Jr.’s three weeks in the AFL have been a mixed bag thus far.

He started hot, hitting a pair of homers in his first week, but then suffered through a 1-for-15 slump, before turning it back on this week with six hits in four games heading into Thursday.

But it’s not about the stats in the prospect-rich AFL.

After sitting out for two years while going through the defection process, Gurriel Jr. simply needs reps – on both sides of the ball, too.

The Jays sent him to Arizona as a shortstop, and he’s appeared in 11 games there and three at second base, making a pair of errors in the process.

There isn’t a whole lot of confidence within the scouting industry that Gurriel Jr. will be able to stay in the middle infield as a big leaguer, but the Blue Jays are going to exhaust the possibility.

It also helps build a portfolio dotted with versatility, never a bad thing in today’s game.

“He’s always been a guy that’s going to hit, but his defence has gotten better,” Hart said. “Playing two different positions and making throws from both spots, he’s done a good job out here.”

Signed last November to a major-league contract worth $22 million over seven years, Gurriel Jr.’s first year in the Blue Jays organization was a learning experience.

Perhaps the most important lesson, one that he’s still learning, is how to take care of his body and stay on the field, something he now places extra importance on after losing two months to a hamstring injury early in the season.

Promoted to Double-A New Hampshire after just 18 games in High-A Dunedin, Gurriel Jr. slashed .241/.286/.371 with four home runs, numbers that don’t exactly jump off the page.

But the circumstances he’s endured over the last couple of years and the fact he’s playing catch-up give him a legitimate excuse. He wouldn’t be the first player out of Cuba to take some time to adjust.

The 2018 season will provide more clarity on what exactly Gurriel Jr. is, and what he could become.

He knows it, too.

“Next year is going to be really important, and then after that he thinks he would be ready (for the majors), for sure,” Gurriel Jr. said through Monzon.

Likely ticketed for New Hampshire once again to start next season, Hart sees the need for more development time, but he’s also been impressed with the raw tools and baseball IQ that — along with the outstanding hair — also runs in the family.

“I think he needs some more at-bats before he gets up there, but he’s pretty polished as far as he never looks overmatched,” Hart said. “He’s always in every at-bat and you always feel like he has a chance, so that’s a good thing for a guy that hasn’t seen a lot of professional baseball in America."