Nice cars, tennis shoes and The Rock: Vlad Guerrero Jr. leaks a few details of his personal movie script

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 27/03/2022 (1356 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

DUNEDIN, Fla.—When Vladimir Guerrero Jr. made a funny the other day, he cracked up his audience of media mooks.

“What we did last year was a trailer. Now you guys are going to see the movie.”

But what if there actually was a movie about the superstar Blue Jay? Not that Hollywood has a great history of baseball on celluloid. On this lazy spring morning we asked: Who would Vladdy like to see play Vladdy?

The answer came without hesitation.

“La Rock.”

Which didn’t need any translation by always-at-his-elbow interpreter Tito Lebron.

Dwayne Johnson, the professional wrestler turned mega-successful action hero on screen.

At some point, this ultra-magnetic baller will no longer need to express himself through a Spanish-to-English proxy and maybe then we’ll gain a better understanding — the nuances — of Guerrero’s character. Although it has been writ fairly large in both the intensity he brings to the plate and the endlessly buoyant personality often witnessed in the dugout.

He’s a jester and a prankster.

In fact, the just-turned-23-year-old understands the Queen’s English just fine. In the clubhouse he’ll chatter away with unilingual teammates. But he’s still shy about doing interviews in a language other than his native tongue.

Shall we give it a go today, Vladdy?

“Nah.”

Some easy questions, maybe? Like, what was the flashy sports car you drove up in?

“Corvette.”

How many cars do you own?

“Two.”

What’s the other one?

“Mercedes-Benz.”

How many honkin’ pieces of diamond bling have you bought since arriving in The Show?

“Just four. A couple of chains, a ring and a watch.”

Surely he can afford more big-boy toys now, especially since reaching agreement last week in what would have been his first year of arbitration eligibility — a deal reported to be worth $7.9 million (U.S.), surpassing the total earnings of his first three years in the majors.

“I haven’t really bought myself anything yet. I just like cars and tennis shoes.”

How many pairs of tennis shoes, estimate?

“A thousand. I keep the new ones and give the old ones to my cousins and friends in the Dominican.”

Perhaps he splurges on his kids instead, two little girls aged three and four, we wonder.

“I can afford to buy them anything they want. If I have the desire to buy it for them.”

He doesn’t want to spoil the youngsters.

Dear readers: We do, in fact, have the smarts to ask Guerrero questions that aren’t quite so dopey, baseball stuff. Except this is kind of fun too. And spring training, even this year’s condensed version — on account of the lockout — can get awfully tedious.

Took a turn around the clubhouse, actually, buttonholing pitchers about how they’d handle facing Guerrero in the batter’s box.

Jordan Romano, closer “I faced him in live BP here probably two weeks ago. I’d been feeling pretty good, spotting all my pitches. He saw two fastballs from me and he hit both off the wall. So, if I had to face him in a game, I would not throw him any fastballs. Maybe all sliders and just pray he doesn’t hit one. That’s the only plan against Vladdy — you’ve got to pray.”

This is what that experience taught him and it’s quite simple: “Every game counts. Every game is important.”

Whether in the no-worries spring or the dog days of summer. Because for all his glittery accomplishments in 2021 at merely aged 22 — 48 home runs, second-most in a season in franchise history — he’d trade it all in for another taste of the post-season, not just that mutated best-of-three thingy versus Tampa.

Ross Stripling, swingman “I have not faced him before. I definitely am a ‘pitch to the scouting report’ guy and I’ve never seen a scouting report on Vladdy. But I’d probably be very aggressive early. My first pitch, definitely locked in on a spot right away because he can do damage on that first pitch. Then you’re mixing it up. He just never seems fooled, right? I’m not going to the same place twice. If he takes a good swipe at one, I’m probably changing it up quickly from there. I’m definitely going up and in at some point to try and stand him up, to get him off some breaking stuff away, that classic old-school pitching style. Just from looking at him from afar, basically throw the kitchen sink and him.”

“Knowing that we have a short spring, just 18 games, the focus is to get ready as fast as I can,” Guerrero had said earlier. Claimed he’s still far from hitting his stride. Still comparably svelte for his body type — he’s kept off the 40 pounds he lost over the previous winter — but more muscular, following the regimen of his private trainer in the Dominican.

Winnipeg Free Press | Newsletter

Jen Zoratti | Next

Wednesdays

What's next in arts, life and pop culture.

Sign up for Jen Zoratti | Next

Sign Up

I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

Claims he’s having problems with the curveball. “Trying to recognize the pitch when it’s coming out of the pitcher’s hand. That will come with time and more at-bats,” he assures.

Joe Biagini, reliever The former Jay recently signed a minor-league contract, and is probably destined for Triple-A: “I did pitch against him at least once that I remember, when I was in Houston. By some miracle I actually got him out. A curveball that he hit hard but on the ground. My first strategy would be to avoid him. My second strategy would probably be to make a funny face and make him laugh. If that doesn’t work, I think the ultimate respect of a pitcher to a hitter is to kind of resign yourself and say, you know what? This guy is a really good and dangerous hitter, I accept the fact that he might hit a ball hard. So I’m going to be aggressive and I don’t care what happens. Even before he got to the big leagues, you could tell there was something special there. The way he moves, the way he handles the bat, the way he stands in the box. It’s almost like you kind of reverse it and say: This is the reason why we play this game, to get to throw to a guy like that.”

If his teammates are in awe of his stupendous offensive talent, he is likewise reverent about them, thrilled by the prospects of this Blue Jays assembly. “Me, I don’t really have a goal. But I believe in my team, in my teammates. I know we’re capable of doing something great this year.”

Alek Manoah Starting rotation, entering his sophomore season with Toronto: “I’d walk him.”

Rosie DiManno is a Toronto-based columnist covering sports and current affairs for the Star. Follow her on Twitter: @rdimanno