The Toronto Blue Jays’ bats have started to find some life of late, though it hasn’t come from Vladimir Guerrero Jr. at all.
A struggling offense has seen the likes of Kazuma Okamoto, Brandon Valenzuela, and even Yohendrick Pinango provide some pop, while Ernie Clement continues to do it all on the heels of his historic postseason. It feels like the start of a turnaround the Blue Jays desperately needed at the plate — but all that’s missing is production from the face of the franchise.
Guerrero Jr.’s up-and-down season has seemingly reached a new low over the past seven games, where he’s hit just .148 and has often looked lost and frustrated. Despite that, however, the superstar first baseman told MLB.com’s Keegan Matheson that he’s feeling as good as ever and knows a breakout is looming.
“I always tell the guys, don’t worry about me. I’m going to be good. When I get hot, I’ll get hot. I don’t go up there to miss…. I feel way better. I feel way better. I’ve been pulling the ball more in the air than I was two or three weeks ago. I just listened to my hitting coaches. I’m listening to whatever they tell me to create a plan to go to home plate.
I’ve been feeling good and I’ve been hitting the ball hard. There’s nothing I can do, I just try to go out there and put a good swing on the ball. I’ve been hitting the ball hard lately, but this is baseball. I’m going to keep working hard and keep doing this. Things are going to go my way. At one point, the baseball is going to be good to me. Right now, I’m hitting the ball hard, just out. I know that’s not going to be all year,”
The 27-year-old Guerrero Jr. is batting .287 on the campaign but has hit just three home runs and driven in 25 runs across 64 games, putting him on pace for his least productive full big league season.
It’s very important that Guerrero Jr. feels confident and believes the tide is about to turn, because it certainly hasn’t looked like that at times during this stretch.
If the two-time Silver Slugger can get back to peak form while the rest of the lineup is hot, there is real reason to believe Toronto can go on a run and solidify its spot as a playoff team into the summer.
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