Vladimir Guerrero Jr. has taken a lot of heat this season.
The Blue Jay is having another strong year with the bat, leading all qualified major-league first basemen with an .879 OPS going into Friday night’s series opener against the Dodgers in Los Angeles, but five players had more than twice as many home runs as his 18.
Vladdy’s not getting half a billion dollars (U.S.) to hit singles, bray the masses.
It’s true that Guerrero isn’t going to approach his career highs of 48 home runs and a 1.002 on-base-plus-slugging-percentage from聽his almost-MVP season of 2021, but it’s also true that players rarely do such things in the season in which they sign massive contracts.
The big home run numbers are missing, but the 26-year-old is very quietly putting together another incredibly strong season.
Heading into Friday, he shared the club lead in homers with the injured George Springer, who has yet to begin a rehab assignment after being hit in the head by a Kade Strowd fastball on July 28 and suffering a concussion.聽
Guerrero took a 23-game on-base streak, the longest active in the majors, into Friday’s game. He also had a major-league-best 34-game on-base streak earlier in the season. After going 0-for-5 on July 1 and July 3 (with a 1-for-3 in between) he hit .360 with a 1.057 OPS and 15 extra-base hits in 28 games as the Jays powered to the top of the American League standings.
Rockier road
The Jays were still riding high after a聽historic sweep of the Colorado Rockies in Denver when they touched down in L.A. Wednesday night, but the next week and a half will be much more difficult.
The Rockies are MLB’s worst team by far, but don’t sell the Jays short. Their 45 runs were the most by any team in a three-game series in almost six years, and no team had put up 63 hits in a three-gamer before聽鈥 ever. The Jays also became just the third team in the modern era with at least 55 hits and 10 home runs (13) in a three-game set.
That was a lot more than: It’s just the Rockies.
But now it’s the Dodgers. Then the Chicago Cubs. And then the Texas Rangers.
The Jays go from a pudding-soft spot in the schedule to six games against upper-echelon National League teams and three against a Texas squad that’s neck-and-neck for a playoff berth.
The World Series champion Dodgers hit you with former MVPs Mookie Betts, Shohei Ohtani and Freddie Freeman, while the Cubbies shared the major-league lead with the Dodgers at 5.16 runs per game going into Friday’s action.
The Cubs’ .762 OPS was second only to the Dodgers’ .770 in the NL. The Jays sat right between them at .768.
Ohtani vs. Varsho?
Over three games at Dodger Stadium, the Jays will lock horns with Ohtani, the free agent who spurned them to stay in southern California after a very public flirtation two winters ago.
The Japanese superstar went into Friday’s game with 39 home runs, third in the majors behind the Seattle Mariners’ Cal Raleigh (43) and Kyle Schwarber of the Philadelphia Phillies (40), and led the majors with a .606 slugging percentage. But Daulton Varsho is creeping up behind him.
Granted it’s a much smaller sample size, but the Jays’ gold glove centre-fielder was leading the team in homers before聽a May 31 hamstring strain and has picked up right where he left off.
Following an Aug. 1 return, Varsho belted three home runs in his first four games with an otherworldly 1.290 OPS and, after 28 games, had posted a .602 slugging percentage that was only a few ticks behind Ohtani’s, and fourth-best in the majors among hitters with at least 100 at-bats.
Ins and outs
On Thursday, Alek Manoah made his third rehab start but first with Double-A New Hampshire. The 27-year-old right-hander, making his way back from last June’s Tommy John surgery, gave up two runs on five hits over three innings, walking three and striking out two while throwing 64 pitches聽鈥 more than twice as many as his last start. Manoah isn’t knocking on the big-league door as hard as Shane Bieber, who will make his second rehab start at Triple-A Buffalo on Saturday and should be ready for a call-up after one more, but he’s certainly pitching himself into the September picture ... Davis Schneider was in the leadoff spot for the Jays in Friday night’s opener at Dodger Stadium, and he has more than earned that role against left-handed pitching. Schneider started the season 2-for-15 before being sent back to Triple-A in late April, but returned June 1 and put up an impressive slash line of .265/.374/.531 through Thursday. Against left-handers, he had a .378 on-base percentage for the season ... Catcher Ali S谩nchez was picked up off waivers by the Boston Red Sox on Friday. If Alejandro Kirk or Tyler Heineman should get hurt, the Jays’ next option is likely eight-year big-league veteran Christian Bethancourt, currently hitting .178 in Buffalo. Brandon Valenzuela, acquired from the San Diego Padres for Will Wagner at the trade deadline, might also be an option but has only played 31 games above Double-A.
To join the conversation set a first and last name in your user profile.
Sign in or register for free to join the Conversation