Undeniably as a huge baseball fan, I bought into the Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hype early. First off, I loved his dad’s game growing up. Then I heard scouts talking about the unheard of ’80’ hit-tool scouting grade. Simply put, I couldn’t wait to see Vladdy Jr. play in 2019.
Then, things took a swerve. The young wunderkind just appeared to be a decent player, which at age-20 is fine I suppose. Guerrero Jr. finished his rookie campaign with a decent enough .272/.339/.433 and 15 home runs to go along with a 2.1 bWAR.
However, he looked worn down in September. Without question, Guerrero Jr. needed extra days off to survive the grind of a big league season. Finally – he admitted that he didn’t take conditioning too seriously – before nicely retracting that statement.
Now the Blue Jays’ are being vocal – they want Guerrero Jr. to get in better shape. This is per Ben Nicholson-Smith who covers the team for Sportsnet Canada. Behold a series of tweets:
#BlueJays are committed to Vlad Jr. at 3B per Atkins. Jays & Guerrero Jr. have a plan for his winter work. “He knows he has to come in in overall better condition.”
— Ben Nicholson-Smith (@bnicholsonsmith) October 1, 2019
Not all about weight, but Jays hope Vlad Jr. will weigh “significantly less than what he reported at last year” per Atkins#BlueJays want Vlad Jr. to spend time at their facility, with their staff this winter “The more time he’s with us the better”
— Ben Nicholson-Smith (@bnicholsonsmith) October 1, 2019
After years of destroying minor-league pitching, it sounds like this year was in some ways a wake-up call for Vlad Jr.
“When you wake up and perform at an elite level, reflection’s less necessary," Atkins said. Then in 2019,
"reflection occurred and maturity occurred.”— Ben Nicholson-Smith (@bnicholsonsmith) October 1, 2019
Here’s what the general manager Ross Atkins had to say regarding Guerrero Jr.’s weight situation.
“He knows he has to come in in overall better condition.”
Nicholson continued with Atkins in this dialogue.
Not all about weight, but Jays hope Vlad Jr. will weigh “significantly less than what he reported at last year” per Atkins. “The more time he’s with us the better.”
Reading between the lines, the Blue Jays want to protect their mega-investment by keeping a close eye on him this winter. And we all know there is no better time of year for a ballplayer to get in shape then those drudging winter months. Famously, Guerrero Jr. has had all his meals cooked for him during the season by his grandmother. To be fair, maybe she is giving him second helpings. After all, grandmothers are that way.
On a serious note, Guerrero Jr. has a chance to be a star player in three countries: USA, Canada, and Dominican Republic. Therefore if you’re a baseball fan, you should be rooting for his success (and his frame to take shape). It’s a good thing for the game of baseball to attract that many eyes across several countries. Combine that with the fact he’s a second generation talent, and you have a can’t-miss product as long as he delivers on the field.
Hopefully we are writing about Guerrero Jr. in the best shape of his life on these very pages in a few months.
