Gurriel, Chapman go way back

Yulieski Gurriel looked forward to playing against countryman Aroldis Chapman this weekend at Minute Maid Park. The Astros’ new Cuban infielder laughed when asked if he hoped to bat against the Cubs’ flame-throwing closer.

“If you face him, you’ve got to face him,” Gurriel said through a translator. “But it would be a lot better if I didn’t.

“If we face him, that means we’re not winning, probably. It would be good to face him (if we’re winning).”

Gurriel, one of Cuban baseball’s biggest stars, and Chapman, one of the most successful major leaguers to defect from Cuba, know each other well. They were teammates on the Cuban national team for the 2007 Pan American Games, the 2007 Baseball World Cup and the 2009 World Baseball Classic.

Gurriel, who hit his first two major league home runs Wednesday and Thursday against the Indians, intimated his and Chapman’s teams played only once in league games. Chapman was a young starter back then.

“I don’t remember exactly how I did against him,” Gurriel said. “I do remember that he got the win in that game. But also he wasn’t throwing the way he throws now.”

Gurriel reached out to Chapman for advice throughout his recruitment and tryout process with major league teams.

“He prepared me on how baseball is played here and he gave me some advice on that end,” Gurriel said. “He told me that the style of play was very different and the preparation for each game is a lot different than Cuba.”