Vlad All Over

 

It's so weird how normalized having Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in the leagues has become. You know, back when he came up it was this whole thing, oh my gosh the son of one of the biggest hitters of my youth is up in the majors, look at him go, he's awesome. And now he's just sort of mellowed into a role. Still doing amazing things, don't get me wrong, but, y'know, with less trumpets.

I think it's also because this is something of a down year for Vlad Jr. In 2021 he hit 48 home runs, which is pretty awesome, and so far this year he has 13. Which still has him on pace for a 25+ homer season, it's just...not overwhelming. He's also still on par for an 100+ RBI season as well, but so far he's just been...fine. There have been bigger standouts on the Jays' lineup, and more versatile players than just people who hit lots of home runs. And to his credit, Vladdie has been trying to up his versatility, but the Jays added three of the best defenders in baseball in the last year or so, Merrifield, Varsho and Kiermaier. And so if you have even more great defenders, on top of Chapman, being a subpar 1st baseman is gonna stand out more.

I mean, I get why you have a Guerrero on your team, and I get that it's not for defense, but...I think I'm justified in wanting a little more from the guy. Not that this is indicative of a career downturn, at least I hope it's not, but...where's the big bad Vlad Jr. they promised us in 2018? Bo Bichette's exactly what was advertised, he's such a versatile and fun player and the Jays are treating him as such. Vlad is just...Vlad. At least for the moment.

That's also kind of a good way of summing up the Blue Jays right now. They're just...good enough. Doing their thing, having good weeks, giving their heroes good showcases. They're still in fourth, and are still over .500, but...they're not exactly blowing the doors off the place. And it's the third or so year that it's been like this. They've always built up their teams and done everything right only to get either a poor playoff seeding or not advance. The 2015/16 teams would put so much less thought into putting a team together and wind up in an ALCS anyway with Dioner Navarro and Drew Hutchison in chief roles. This team can't get past the first round of the playoffs with Bichette, Guerrero, Chapman, Berrios and Gausman in their primes.

Unless it happens this year. This team could spring to life in the second half, it's happened before. Guerrero could go on a tear coming up. Alternatively, the O's, Rays and Yanks could fall apart and leave the door wide open for them. This Jays team has the potential to do great things, as they always have, but lack the luck and momentum their messier predecessors had. Maybe this is the year it all changes, who knows. All they can do is build from something, and a good Vlad run would help.

But, you know...some hitters catch fire after they're done with the Home Run Derby. Maybe Vlad'll be the latest.

Coming Tonight: SPEAKING OF HOME RUN DERBY PARTICIPANTS...a fella from New York that famously hits lots of homers.