The Toronto Blue Jays will begin a three-game home series against the Baltimore Orioles.
Toronto is coming off a series loss to the Texas Rangers, and in the series finale, slugger Vladimir Guerrero Jr. left the game due to an injury.
The Blue Jays are 77-79.
Toronto Blue Jays Announce Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Decision
In Toronto’s win over the Rangers on Sunday, Guerrero left the game due to back tightness.
Now, ahead of the series opener against the Orioles on Monday, Toronto will be without Guerrero.
The Blue Jays announced their lineup, which is as follows:
- B. Bateman CF
- A. Kirk C
- N. Lukes RF
- G. Springer DH
- S. Keys 1B
- K. Okamoto 3B
- J. Smith LF
- A. Giménez SS
- E. Clement 2B
Trey Yasavage will start for the Blue Jays after he was activated off the IL. Chad Dallas is expected to also pitch a bulk of the innings.
The most notable part of the Blue Jays lineup is that Guerrero is not in it. After leaving Sunday’s game, Blue Jays manager John Schneider said he was hopeful Guerrero would be able to play on Monday.
“Just wanted to be careful and hopefully he’s good for tomorrow,” Schneider said.
Unfortunately, Guerrero isn’t healthy enough to be in the lineup, as Sean Keys will be playing first base and batting fifth instead.
Guerrero has struggled this season as he’s hitting .263 with 9 home runs and 56 RBIs. It’s been a frustrating year for Guerrero, who’s been dealing with a back problem for most of the season.
Toronto Right Now
The Blue Jays have six games left and likely need to go 6-0 to have any hopes of reaching the postseason.
Toronto has struggled all year, but the Blue Jays are just taking it one game at a time.
“It’s easy to get caught up with those losses and stuff like that,” Blue Jays center fielder Brett Bateman said. “But it’s a team game. We win as a team, we lose as a team. Losing the first two here was disappointing, for sure. But I don’t want to carry that over into my next at-bats and start swinging at things I shouldn’t. I’m just trying to be the same guy every day. It’s all you can do.”
Toronto is 77-79 and 3 games back of the final Wild Card spot.
Toronto Blue Jays Announce Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Decision After Injury