‘Just a franchise superstar at work.’ Vladimir Guerrero Jr. arrives fashionably late at 22

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This article was published 28/04/2021 (1658 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Vladimir Guerrero Jr. that everyone was waiting for has arrived, and he appears ready to take his seat alongside Major League Baseball’s top young stars.

Guerrero was one of the sport’s most highly touted prospects, but prior to this year some people might have been wondering what all the fuss was about. He was good, but not great, during his first two seasons in the league, which raised doubts about whether he would ever live up to the over-the-top hype.

Not anymore.

Guerrero’s eye-popping numbers this season are straight out of a video game. He entered Wednesday batting .360 with a .484 on-base percentage while slugging an American League-leading seven home runs and 19 RBIs. The only AL player with a higher OPS is Mike Trout.

The season is barely four weeks old and already Guerrero has managed to change his narrative. The talk about how he failed to match the development of other young stars such as Fernando Tatis Jr., Juan Soto and Ronald Acuna has dissipated. Guerrero has become the undisputed king of the Blue Jays’ lineup just as the experts predicted a few years ago.

“We saw (Jacob) deGrom work last week and that was something else, and we saw it here again,” Washington’s Josh Bell told reporters after Guerrero hit three home runs on Tuesday night, including two off ace Max Scherzer. “Just a franchise superstar at work. It’s fun to watch.”

When Guerrero first arrived in the big leagues, he was treated to a standing ovation every time he stepped into the box. Fans at the Rogers Centre took out their phones to document the next big thing, but were often left wanting more. After doubling in his debut, it took Guerrero 13 games before he would register another extra-base hit. At the end of 2019, the Dominican was batting .272 with 15 homers and a .772 OPS.

Most rookies would love to have those numbers, and yet for Guerrero they were considered underwhelming. Across the league, guys who came up at the same time were establishing themselves as the new poster boys of baseball and their impressive runs seemed at odds with the Jays’ pleas for patience. If Tatis, Acuna and Soto can thrive in their early 20s, why can’t Guerrero?

Well, sometimes it just takes guys a little bit longer to figure everything out — and to be fair, considering Guerrero is still just 22, this wasn’t much of a wait. The breakthrough came when Guerrero realized his lack of conditioning was holding him back and his routine needed to change. He lost 42 pounds in under a year and suddenly the athleticism returned.

Hard contact was never the issue. Even when Guerrero was struggling, his exit velocities were impressive, but his inability to leverage the lower half of his body meant too many balls were being hit on the ground. That hasn’t been an issue in April with Guerrero getting more loft on his swing and punishing opposing pitchers whenever they make a mistake.

“That’s what everybody thought could happen,” manager Charlie Montoyo said. “It wasn’t fair, all the expectations in the beginning because the kid was only 20 years old when he first came up, but he’s doing what we thought he could do. Nobody expects him to hit three home runs a game … but he has been fun to watch all of April so far. He has been really good.”

Expectations will remain high for the rest of the year and beyond, but Guerrero’s not always going to hit this well. At some point there’s going to be a cold streak, and how he responds will go a long way in determining where his numbers end up.

The goal should be extending the peaks and limiting the valleys. Tuesday’s three-homer performance provided the perfect example. Guerrero entered that matchup against Scherzer hitless in his previous 10 at-bats. Then he went 3-for-4 with three homers and seven RBIs in the best game of his career.

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Guerrero has turned a corner despite having very little protection in the lineup. Thanks in part to the absence of Teoscar Hernandez, Jays cleanup hitters are batting just .253 with two homers and a below-average .666 OPS this season. There has been little to no motivation for opposing teams to give him anything to hit, but when they do, he usually makes them pay.

He ranks fourth in the AL with 16 walks and is second to Trout with that .484 OBP. When a pitcher musters the courage to challenge him, Guerrero has been ready to attack with nine first-pitch hits, tied with Byron Buxton for the most in MLB. Not too many players can balance patience and aggressiveness at the same time. Guerrero has proven to be one of the exceptions.

“I think the most impressive part is that a lot of people forget how young he actually is,” George Springer said in the hours leading up to his Jays debut. “He hasn’t even scratched the surface of the player he can become. I think he is starting to understand the things he can do offensively … He is so young, and he is very, very mature. He understands what he wants to do, and he understands what he needs to do.”

Lessons were learned during Guerrero’s first two seasons. The wait for him to become a star appears over, the franchise player is here and he’s ready for the spotlight. Buckle up and enjoy the ride.

Gregor Chisholm is a Toronto-based baseball columnist for the Star. Follow him on Twitter: @GregorChisholm or reach him via email: gchisholm@thestar.ca