Vladimir Guerrero Jr is arguably the most valuable Toronto Blue Jays player this season. Yet, that season may now be over.
Guerrero injured his hamstring while doing a split at first base late in Toronto’s 5-2 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates and will undergo an MRI on Tuesday.
Guerrero leads Toronto in OPS+ (146), home runs (21) and runs scored (83) and is on pace to flirt with his career high for RBIs, 111 which he set in 2021.
The Blue Jays (73-53) have the second-best record in the American League, a half-game back of the AL Central-leading Detroit Tigers. They are in first place in the AL East, leading the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees by five games with 36 games left.
How Did Vladimir Guerrero Jr Get Injured?
Guerrero injured his hamstring while twice doing a split to retrieve throws from shortstop Bo Bichette, the latter of which came on a highlight-reel play to retire Jared Triolo to end the third inning.
Guerrero stayed in the game for another inning before exiting. Ty France took over for him and went 0 for 2 with a strikeout. Although Guerrero is slated to undergo imaging, Blue Jays manager John Schneider downplayed the significance.
“It was after that stretch, obviously,” Schneider said. “At this time of year, everyone is kind of grinding a little bit, and that just irritated his hammy. It’s just tightness.”
Schneider also reiterated the Blue Jays‘ need to keep Guerrero healthy, especially with just six weeks until the playoffs. FanGraphs gives Toronto a 99.2 percent chance of making the playoffs and a 9.3 percent chance of winning the World Series — the best of any AL team — but those marks will crater if Guerrero is out for any extended period of time.
“I trust him, and he knows himself really well,” Schneider said. “We can’t afford to lose him for an extended period of time, so it was partially precautionary, too. Hopefully, he’s good to go in the next day or two. He’s obviously really important to our lineup.”
Who Will Play First Base If Vladimir Guerrero Jr Is Out?
As Schneider said, there are no great options to replace Guerrero. But Toronto does have serviceable candidates, notably France, who it acquired from the Minnesota Twins at last month’s trade deadline.
France has played 108 games at first base this season for the Twins and Blue Jays, and has made 602 of his 693 career MLB starts at first over his seven-season career in the majors.
France has a .738 career OPS and is slashing .333/.395/.462 in 43 plate appearances in 14 games for Toronto, which should make fans sleep a little bit better at at night in case Guerrero needs to go on the 10-day IL.
The Blue Jays could also have Anthony Santander as an option at first base too, since he will join the team in Miami at the end of this week to continue ramping up his swinging when they go there after their three-game slate in Pittsburgh.
Santander has been on the IL since May with shoulder inflammation. But the switch hitter has played first base in a pinch in the past, since he has 14 games at the position under his belt over his nine-year big-league career.
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