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CHICAGO — Lourdes Gurriel Jr. doesn’t speak much english, but his bat is doing the talking for him this summer.

Since being recalled on July 2, the 24-year-old Cuban has been tearing the cover off the baseball, showing the world why the Blue Jays were enamoured enough to invest $22 million in him back in November of 2016.

Just 37 games into his rookie season, Gurriel is on some sort of run, setting a franchise record Saturday night on the south side of Chicago with his 10th consecutive multi-hit game.

That surpasses the old mark of nine straight that Tony Fernandez set in 1986, and leaves him just three away from equalling the MLB record of 13, held by Hall of Famer Rogers Hornsby since 1923.

“I didn’t know him, but everybody was talking about him because of the record,” Gurriel said of Fernandez through team interpreter Josue Peley after his 2-for-5 night against the White Sox. “I Googled him and people were telling me he’s a great person and he had great numbers, so a lot of respect for him.

“I’ll be honest with you, I never thought about a record like that and I still don’t think about it. I’m just trying to go out and play hard and the results are there right now so, hopefully, it’s just going to keep going.”

In case you needed another name to prove how impressive this is, the last player to rack up 10 straight multi-hit efforts was New York Yankees legend Bernie Williams in 2002.

During the streak, Gurriel has pounded out 22 hits in total, including three doubles and three home runs, showing off a smooth, line-drive swing and a feel for hitting that allows him to make good use of the opposite field.

When Gurriel was summoned from the minors for the third time this season to begin the month, he was batting .222 and hadn’t really found any sort of consistent groove at the plate, as the coaching staff focused on helping hone his defence at both middle infield spots.

Now, he’s one of the hottest bats in the majors, raising his slash line to an impressive .312/.331/.500 in the process.

In July, he’s started 15 games. He has hits in all of them.

With more at-bats comes more video, giving opposing pitchers a better idea of how to get Gurriel out.

“I can see a difference already,” Gurriel said. “I can see how the pitchers are throwing to me and it’s a little bit different now. I’m going to have to start making adjustments, as well, because I know they’re not pitching to me like they did when I first came up. I’m going to have to work harder now and make sure I’m prepared.”

Where things go from here is anybody’s guess.

When Gurriel signed, there was the same element of mystery surrounding him that comes with just about every Cuban star. It’s just really hard to get long looks against top competition in order to back up a scouting report.

But the book on Gurriel was that he’d hit, even if there were questions about how much power he’d eventually grow into.

The glove, however, was the toughest evaluation of all — and still is.

So far in the big leagues, Gurriel has made 19 starts at second base and 15 at shortstop. Same thing over his year and change in the minors. Not one game anywhere other than in the middle of the infield.

That might change at some point.

Even Gurriel recently noted that he spent time at other positions in Cuba — the Jays got a look at him in the outfield in Cuba — saying he’s played all nine spots at one time or another.

There has been internal talk of Gurriel being a super-utility player, which is code for a player who is far from a plus glove but can provide passable defence at a number of spots.

Every manager wants a Swiss Army knife to cover up depth deficiencies and be able to move around when injuries strike over the course of a long season. If he can provide above-average production with the bat, even better.

“We’ve talked about that,” Jays manager John Gibbons said. “When they signed him, that was kind of the thought a little bit. We haven’t had a chance to do it here yet. We’re trying to get a look at him on the infield here and see if that’s his future, but in saying that I could see putting him anywhere because he’s a good athlete and he’s got good hands. Who knows if that’s where he ends up. We’re talking about super-utility guys and how valuable they are, it’s also probably more valuable to have a guy run out there at one position every day and he turns into a great player.”

With a number of middle infield options either already in the majors or on the horizon, the Jays will have to spend time moving their chess pieces around, hoping to find the right fit defensively.

If Gurriel’s bat is anything like he’s showing early on, it may not matter where he lands with the leather.​