Anaheim still feels like home for Vlad Guerrero Jr., but the Blue Jays star never wanted to be an Angel

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This article was published 26/05/2022 (1251 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

ANAHEIM, Calif. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. might not be having the season he wanted, or the one most Blue Jays fans expected, but the reigning Hank Aaron Award winner still knows how to draw a crowd.

When Guerrero arrived at the visitors dugout in advance of Thursday night’s series opener against the Los Angeles Angels, he was greeted by a sea of media. There were at least seven cameras documenting his steps and upwards of 30 reporters hanging on every word.

The attention was twofold. About half of those in attendance were from the Japanese market, seeking insight into what it’s like to step into the batter’s box against two-way star Shohei Ohtani, Thursday’s starter and the man who beat out Guerrero in a unanimous vote for last year’s MVP award.

The other half, mixed with a handful of Toronto reporters, were there to talk with Guerrero about his old stomping grounds. This is the city where his father spent six years of his Hall of Fame career, and the Angels logo is proudly displayed on the Cooperstown plaque of Vlad Sr. He remains a legend around these parts, just like in Montreal, and now his son gets to bask in that same fame.

“It makes me very happy,” the Jays’ Guerrero said a few hours before hitting a solo homer off Ohtani in his return to Angel Stadium. “I’m very proud. Of course, I was here for a long time. I pretty much grew up here and now I’m coming back here as a big leaguer.”

In Canada, a big deal has been made about Guerrero’s Montreal roots. It’s where he was born, and Olympic Stadium is where he first stepped foot in a big-league clubhouse. Anaheim, however, is where most of the big-league memories took place and it’s the ballpark where he first started fantasizing about following in his father’s footsteps.

Guerrero was five years old when his dad joined the Angels on a $70-million (U.S.) deal and he was a regular presence around the stadium until he was 11, hanging around the batting cage and watching the Angels do their drills, striking up relationships with Erick Aybar and former Jay Kendrys Morales along the way.

Because of that history, one thing the Anaheim media clearly wanted to know was whether Guerrero dreamed about playing for those same Angels, and if he considered signing with them as an international free agent before joining the Jays. They were probably disappointed with his answer.

“It never was on my mind,” said Guerrero, who finished 1-for-4 with a solo homer in the Jays’ 6-3 win on Thursday night. “I did a lot of tryouts for the Angels and some other teams, but when it came time to sign it was Toronto. That was really close (to what I wanted) so I decided to sign with Toronto.”

The media spotlight on Guerrero comes at a time when he’s still trying to figure things out at the plate after a disappointing first two months. His numbers are down across the board – batting .263 with nine homers — and he recently went through a stretch of 15 games without registering an extra-base hit, the longest skid of his career.

The issue hasn’t been putting balls in play, or a lack of hard contact. His strikeouts haven’t gone up from last season, and the speed at which the ball is coming off his bat this season is even higher than it was a year ago: with a 55 per cent hard-hit rate in 2021 vs. 56.9 per cent in May.

The problem has been where those hard-hit balls are going. Last year, his ground-ball rate was 45.6 per cent; this year, it’s up to 52 per cent. Too many worm burners have been an issue before, particularly Guerrero’s rookie season, and it’s popped up again likely as a by-product of opposing pitchers limiting the number of fastballs he sees, instead focusing on secondary stuff in the lower half of the zone.

“First of all, it’s a long year and everybody expects so much,” Jays manager Charlie Montoyo said. “He was still getting his hits. But yes, he was hitting a lot of balls on the ground and then in (St. Louis) he was hitting the ball in the air, which was good to see … It’s more about him. When he’s locked in, it doesn’t matter who is on the mound, honestly. He’ll be fine.”

Guerrero arrived in Anaheim to much fanfare because of his father, but it’s his uncle, Wilton Guerrero, who has made a bigger impact on his career. While Guerrero frequently talks with his dad about family and life as a big leaguer, Wilton has always taken the more hands-on approach.

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The 23-year-old Jay said he talks with his uncle pretty much every day. They both know what the issue is — the normally patient Guerrero has been pressing and expanding the zone — but fixing it has proven to be a challenge.

“It’s a process; it’s not easy,” Guerrero said. “But thank god we’ve got good coaches here and I trust them. Before every game they show me all the videos that happened the day before. I’ve seen that you create a plan for the game, and that has been helping me a lot, especially in my strike zone, and hopefully it continues that way.”

The Jays won’t be able to get to where they want to go without Guerrero being a dominant force in their lineup. They’ll have to hope a two-hit game on Wednesday against the Cardinals, which included a homer, was the start of a turnaround that carries deep into the season, because at this point a struggling lineup needs all the support it can get.

The attention will be there for Guerrero whether he’s hitting or not, but his West Coast homecoming would feel a whole lot sweeter if he has something to show for it at the end of this four-game series.

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