According to a prominent Canadian sports writer, Toronto Blue Jays first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is “embarrassed” by his poor season.
Guerrero is enduring the worst season of his eight-year MLB career so far.
The six-time MLB All-Star is batting just .262 for the Blue Jays with an OPS of .694 and an OPS+ of 92, indicating his bat has been 8% below league average. He has only hit 9 home runs this season, including just 1 home run at Rogers Centre.
Considering Guerrero makes $40.2 million this season, the first year of a 14-year, $500 million contract, it has been downright shocking, to say the least, to see how poorly he has performed at the plate this year for Toronto, which is likely to miss the postseason after making it all the way to the World Series last year, in what can only be described as a massive fall from grace.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. ‘Embarrassed’ by Poor Performance
According to Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun, Guerrero has told those close to him that he is “embarrassed” by his play this season.
“Those who know Guerrero best say he is terribly embarrassed by his lack of production and he has grown tired of all the meetings, the coaching, the daily work, the noise that has not resulted in anything resembling success during this wayward season,” Simmons wrote.
Simmons also provided another interesting note, pointing out that in the event of an MLB lockout — which seems likely at this point — Guerrero will not be able to work with the Blue Jays coaches after December 1 to help get his swing back on track this offseason.
“What complicates the off-season for Guerrero and the Jays is the possibility of a lockout on Dec. 1. If that happens, and the Jays have plans to work with Guerrero to get his swing back, there can be no contact between the player and the team after that date,” Simmons wrote.
Blue Jays Likely to Miss Playoffs
With just six games left this season, the Blue Jays have a 77-79 record, and making the postseason is going to be next to impossible, as the team is currently 3 GB of the Chicago White Sox in the hunt for the third and final American League Wild Card spot.
That’s actually 4 GB, though, because the White Sox hold the tiebreaker over Toronto, so the odds of the Blue Jays making it to the postseason bracket are extremely slim right now.
The only hope Toronto has is that they win their last six games of the season to get to 83-79 and hope that Chicago goes 2-4 in their last six games to finish at 82-80.
Or, the Cleveland Guardians can go 2-4 over their final six games to also finish at 83-79, as Toronto at least has the tiebreaker over Cleveland.
With that in mind, math is not on the Blue Jays’ side right now, as time is running out this season and there simply aren’t enough games left for Toronto to get into the postseason bracket.
And fairly or unfairly, since it is a team sport, Guerrero’s bad season with the bat is a big reason why the team isn’t going anywhere this year.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. ‘Embarrassed’ by Poor Season for Blue Jays