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1 hour ago
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The Toronto Blue Jays still could turn things around and get back into the hunt. It would just take a hot month or so to feel like contenders again.
But to do that, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. would have to change the trend of his season. Vladdy is the player most capable of leading the Blue Jays on a run. And right now, he's nowhere near his usual self.
The season is nearly three months old, and Guerrero's power still hasn't shown up.
It pretty much makes no sense.
Where has Vladdy's slugging gone?
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This isn't a small sample size any longer. And while it's not to say that it couldn't all come rushing back in a hot streak, until it does, it gets more and more confounding.
Look at this stat:
Only 25 players in MLB history hit more HRs before their age-27 season than Vlad Jr. (183).
Those 25 hitters, across their age-27 campaigns, averaged 32 HRs and a 146 wRC+.
Meanwhile, 27-year-old Vlad Jr. has a wRC+ of 108 and is on pace for 7 HRs.
Just an outrageous anomaly.
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If Guerrero played most of the games this season and hit only single-digit home runs, that'd be a massive shock. It just doesn't add up.
This is a guy who had a solid 2025, then erupted in the playoffs. At his best, he's just about as good as any hitter in baseball.
He hasn't entirely fallen off a cliff, either. His average is still solid. It's not like he's whiffing or making constant outs.
Guerrero just isn't driving the baseball, and it's a development that no one in Toronto could've predicted. The Blue Jays just have to hope the larger sample size proves true and that Vladdy turns this around.
At the moment, though, that seems far from a given, because this situation already makes no sense.
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