Why Vlad-Ohtani rematch remains appointment viewing, even without the MVP hysteria

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This article was published 25/05/2022 (1257 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The way Vladimir Guerrero Jr. explains it, this is just another series. One that presents an opportunity for the Blue Jays to add a few more to the win column, and for a potent lineup to get back on track after a slow start.

That doesn’t mean we have to believe him. The stakes are at least a little bit higher than that.

The Jays roll into the Los Angeles area for the start of a four-game set against the Angels on Thursday night, and this is shaping up to be anything but a run-of-the-mill affair. This is appointment viewing, featuring two of the game’s superstars in a rare head-to-head matchup.

Guerrero vs. the two-way phenom Shohei Ohtani. The top two vote-getters in last year’s race for the most valuable player award in the American League squaring off for just the second time in their careers. With Ohtani set to take the mound in the series opener, eyes from across the baseball world will be focused on the happenings in sunny Anaheim.

“We all know Ohtani is one of the best, a great pitcher,” Guerrero told reporters through an interpreter following Tuesday’s 8-1 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals. “But I faced him last year, so it’s kind of normal to me. Like I always say, I’m going to continue going out there and give the best I can for my team.”

Except there wasn’t anything normal about the last time they shared a field. Ohtani’s lone start against the Jays was an Aug. 12, 2021 victory at the height of the MVP debate. Ohtani was in the process of making history as baseball’s most effective pitcher/position player combo since Babe Ruth, while Guerrero took a run at a rare triple crown.

Within a few weeks of Ohtani limiting the Jays to a pair of runs across six innings, the hysteria had calmed. Guerrero’s production slowed and Ohtani kept producing. By the time ballots from the Baseball Writers’ Association of America were due at the end of the regular season, the result had become a foregone conclusion. Ohtani received all 30 first-place votes, including one from this columnist. In the end, it wasn’t even close.

Guerrero, who went 1-for-2 with a single, a walk and a strikeout against Ohtani, was gracious in defeat and didn’t necessarily think he deserved to win. But after the announcement, the 23-year-old expressed disappointment that Ohtani was a unanimous winner. Following such an electric season, Guerrero just wanted a bit of love, yet it was the slugger with the upper-90s arm who hogged the spotlight.

It’s too late to change any of that, but there’s still ample opportunity to make a statement.

Lots of players are extra motivated against their former club, or a team that passed on them in the draft, because they feel there’s something to prove. Guerrero figures to be no different when he steps into the box against the man he’s so frequently compared to.

“I’m on my way to being comfortable,” said Guerrero, who went 2-for-4 with a homer in Tuesday’s victory over the Cardinals. “I’ve been working very hard all these days and I felt like the more I worked, the better I’ve been feeling. Every day (I’m) more comfortable.”

Guerrero and Ohtani were the AL’s top players last season by a country mile, but neither one is in the discussion for MVP through the first two months of 2022.

Ohtani’s performance on the mound is as good as ever, with a 2.82 ERA and 53 strikeouts across 38 1/3 innings. But he’s been struggling at the plate, much like Guerrero.

Ohtani finished last year with a .257 average, .965 on-base plus slugging percentage, 46 homers, 26 doubles and 100 RBIs. The average is almost identical this year, but his production is down everywhere with a .778 OPS and just 11 extra-base hits entering Wednesday.

Guerrero can relate after struggling for the better part of a month. Prior to Tuesday’s homer, he went through a 25-game span with a .198 average and .597 OPS that somehow managed to make Bradley Zimmer look like a middle-of-the-order threat. Included in that stretch was a career-high 15-game hitting streak, but with only three extra-base hits.

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It has been a grind for both, just like it has for a lot of players with offensive numbers down amid complaints about a deadened baseball. Guerrero and Ohtani have enough raw power to compensate for the changes; apparently it’s going to take some time before it shows up in their numbers. A 443-foot blast from Ohtani this week suggests those concerns won’t last much longer.

For the Jays, the standings are far more important than any individual performance. After a 3-9 stretch earlier this month, they have gone 5-3, but that was more related to weak opponents than improved play.

Tuesday’s eight-run outburst aside, this is a team struggling to score. In 21 games this month, the Jays have been held to three runs or fewer 15 times. Danny Jansen’s three-run shot against St. Louis was their first homer this month with at least one runner on base. Only the Kansas City Royals, Oakland A’s, Chicago White Sox, Pittsburgh Pirates and Detroit Tigers have scored fewer runs overall.

The Jays need more than just Guerrero to get to where they want to go, but a signature performance against Ohtani’s Angels would at least point them in the right direction. It would also serve as a reminder to all voters that while Ohtani might have been the rightful winner a year ago, the Silver Slugger is a generational talent, too.

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