In the dugout, before a game in which he won’t play, Lourdes Gurriel Jr. is doing an interview via Spanish interpreter.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. slips alongside and proceeds to pantomime the whole conversation over team translator Hector Lebron’s shoulder. Gurriel shakes his head, like one might at an exasperatingly playful Labrador puppy demanding attention.

“On the field, off the field, in the dugout, in the clubhouse, he’s always bugging me,” Gurriel mock-complains about his irrepressible teammate. “Any chance that he gets to bug me, he’ll do it.”

The 25-year-old Cuban is never irked by Guerrero’s mischief-making. They’re bonded brothers, having the baseball time of their lives, making up silly rituals because it’s a silly profession for a grown-up, really.

Teoscar Hernandez is also part of the Latino amigo fraternity. Last weekend in Detroit, after Hernandez cranked a jack, Gurriel dropped cross-legged in front of him, also in the dugout, as they mimed — or so this reporter wrongly thought — steering a two-man bobsled.

“No, no, we were pretending that we were driving a car,” Gurriel auto-corrects.

Like that makes total sense.

Whatever. It’s all fun and games, amidst the games, at least in that 12-1 Blue Jays demolition of the Tigers. Even when crooked scores go the other way, there’s no suppressing the gosh-dang-giddy of it, despite the team hurtling toward a 100-loss season.

Nobody has been having a grander time of it than Gurriel, who drew a well-deserved sit-down rest in Tuesday’s encounter with the Indians. It’s been an extraordinary flip from his early season misfortunes, which came to a head — following back-to-back errors and chronic yips throwing from second base to first — with a demotion to the minors on April 14. Though he was hitting a mere .175 through 13 games, the bust-down sent shock waves through the clubhouse.

Gurriel, a highly touted asset from a dynastic baseball family who the Jays landed as an international free agent after he fled Cuba, was exactly as advertised in his 2018 rookie campaign, racking up 11 homers in 65 games with the parent club and playing decent enough afield, at second and short.

“When we sent him down, I remember Smoaky saying, ‘Dude, that guy is our best hitter,’ ” manager Charlie Montoyo recalled the other night. And Justin Smoak surely recognizes hitting aptitude.

Truthfully, Gurriel was a mess in April, with the bat and the glove and, mostly, the weirdly wayward throws to first.

Here’s the freaky of it: He couldn’t make a peg throw at 90 feet but he’s got no problem with 290 feet, and beyond.

Recalled and reconstituted as a left fielder, Gurriel has been a long-heave monster in his wedge of the outfield, with seven assists since he was restored to the Jays on May 24, the most in MLB in that time frame.

“I have a powerful arm, I know that,” he says. “Sometimes it’s difficult to throw for a short distance. So now, with the arm, in the outfield, I can make my throws a lot more accurate.”

Gurriel means he put too much antsy torque on throws across the infield. Although it became evident that his misadventures second-to-first had taken firm residence between the ears.

“That’s how powerful the mind is,” observes Montoyo. “Once you get to this level, it’s more mental than anything. Because everybody’s got the tools.”

Gurriel and Hernandez are the two most outstanding physical specimens on the team. Each has been yanked out of their comfort — if often discomfited — zone. Hernandez has been shunted to centre after struggling to track and catch the ball at both outfield corners, while Gurriel got furloughed from the keystone sack.

Presto, Gurriel got the hang of it. Odd that nobody had the idea before Montoyo pulled it out of his hat. The skipper points out that Gurriel played left field in the Cuban league before escaping the Communist island. Factually correct but misleading. He started a mere 40 games in left over four seasons. The long-term Jays view was to turn him into a super-infielder.

“Definitely in left field I feel very comfortable,” Gurriel says.

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The surging self-confidence translated to Gurriel’s muscle-flexing at the plate: Since putting Buffalo in the rearview mirror, he’s hit .310 with a dozen doubles, a club-leading 18 home runs and 37 RBIs in 51 games.

He is second in total bases (133) in the majors since May 24, second in home runs. He has made highlight reel plays defensively, most memorably nailing Brock Holt at home late at Fenway last month.

“When you feel comfortable playing defence, that makes it easier to transfer when I go to hit. And vice versa. It’s all feeling very good for me. I’m very proud of my game. I’ve been working very hard for this moment so I’m enjoying it.’’

His hotness with the bat has earned Gurriel a “super-secret” sobriquet among teammates, though our clubhouse Deep Grunt has spilled: La Flama. The Flame. Sounds sexier in Spanish. He also answers to Pina Power, as per the T-shirt, a reference to awesome tresses that sprout straight up like pineapple fronds.

Gurriel didn’t pout or grumble when he was routed to the Bisons. “I was actually feeling good at the plate just before that. But OK. Work harder, improve the numbers. I knew at some point I was going to be called up.’’

He buckled down, made modest adjustments at the suggestion of hitting coach Corey Hart — reducing bat movement in the swing and slowing everything down to get a better read on the pitch. Devon White provided the defensive tutoring.

Still, he made only seven starts in left during that Buffalo sojourn. He really battened down the outfield hatch when restored to the Jays, under the tutelage of coach Mark Budzinski.

“First of all, he turned himself, that wasn’t me,” Budzinski stresses, ticking off all the extra work Lourdes put in, taking ground balls, throwing to bases, going back on parabolas, getting a beat and an angle on the ball.

“He’s so athletic and he gets rid of the ball quick. He’s good at reading the ball off the bat, getting to it quickly, getting rid of it quickly to the right base. It’s been outstanding.”

With less flash, Gurriel has also been applying himself to learning English. More shyly than with a bat in his hands, he tiptoes into English conversation with a reporter.

“It’s better. I understand. But I’m not comfortable with it yet. Maybe next year.”

Not translated through Hector.

Vladdy the Pest, muscling in: “Me too.”