MLB
The moment Toronto has been waiting for for months has finally arrived. Tomorrow Vladimir Guerrero Jr (affectionately known as Vladdy) will make his MLB debut against the Oakland Athletics. The wait for Vladdy is finally over.
The Numbers
Vladimir Guerrero Jr signed with the Toronto Blue Jays on July 2 2015. He made his professional debut on June 23, 2016 with the Bluefield Blue Jays, hitting his first professional home run the following day. Since 2016 he has been motoring through the Blue Jays’ minor league system. In 2018 he played in 4 different levels. He began the season with the Bluefield Blue Jays, where he played 3 games. Then he played one game in Dunedin before moving to Double-A New Hampshire. He played 61 games with the Fisher Cats and tore up the league. Vladdy had a .402 average in Double-A with a .449 OBP and .671 SLG and 14 home runs and 60 RBIs.
After Hall of Fame induction weekend, Vladdy reported to Triple-A Buffalo. He had the weekend off because his father, Vladimir Guerrero Sr., was being inducted into the Hall of Fame. Vladdy made a splash in Buffalo as well, posting a .336/.414/.564 slash line in 30 games with 6 home runs and 16 RBIs. So far in 2019 in Triple-A he has a .367/.424/.700 slash line with 3 homers and 8 RBIs in 30 ABs. His final MiLB slash line is .331/.413/.531 with 44 HR and 209 RBIs in 1075 ABs.
The Wait
The Toronto Blue Jays have come under fire in the last few months for the way they have handled Vladdy’s contract. It is common knowledge that they kept him in the minors this long to manipulate his contract. The MLBPA spoke out last September about the Jays not making Vladdy a September call-up. Through all the bureaucratic speak that the front office has put out in the last while about Vladdy needing to work on his defense and being a teammate, all the crap about him not being ready for the majors, the fans have stuck it out. We’ve been vocal about our displeasure, spoken our minds about Atkins and Shapiro and where they can put their statements about Vladdy. But now our impatience is being rewarded in the best way possible.
The Kid
Vladdy is already beloved in Toronto. True, the expectations are high. I think the expectations are warranted. He is an amazing baseball player, and also seems like a decent human. He is meant to be the saviour, the backbone of the team that’s being rebuilt around him. Many of his teammates from Buffalo began the season with the team. Danny Jansen, Rowdy Tellez and Richard Ureña, along with pitchers Thomas Pannone and Trent Thornton, have been making a splash in Toronto for a month. Now Vladdy will finally join them. Fans hope to see new top prospects Bo Bichette and Cavan Biggio in The Show soon. Bichette is currently dealing with a fractured left hand, but that doesn’t stop fans from clamouring for his call-up. The wait for Vladdy might be over, but the wait for our next World Series trip has just begun.
Written by Susannah Schmidt
Follow us on Twitter @T101Sports and @T101SportsMLB
Follow me on Twitter @SusannahElyse
Photo credit to Bryan Green via Flickr
