Vladimir Guerrero Jr. has been cherished by Toronto Blue Jays fans for years. The son of a Baseball Hall of Famer, he has continued a family legacy laced with breathtaking power at the plate. But the six-time All-Star first baseman hasn’t been able to provide that kind of offensive charge at the Rogers Centre this season.
Monday marked the one-year anniversary of Guerrero’s last regular-season homer in Toronto. That day, on Aug. 17, 2026, he drove a round-tripper during a 10-4 loss to the Texas Rangers.
Guerrero went on to stage an unforgettable slugging showcase in the playoffs. As Toronto strung together a sublime postseason run, which culminated in an agonizing World Series Game 7 defeat to the Los Angeles Dodgers, Guerrero piled up eight home runs, with three of them arriving at home. Notably, he was named ALCS MVP after going yard three times in a seven-game series versus the Seattle Mariners, helping the Blue Jays win their first AL pennant in since 1993.
For reference, he delivered that super-sized playoff output in a mere 18 games while slashing .397/.494/.795. Through 115 games of regular-season action this time around, the 27-year-old Guerrero has hit only seven big flies. All of those long balls have been launched on the road, and he’s posting a career-low .693 OPS.
He had registered an OPS below .800 in just one of his previous five campaigns. That momentous stretch began in 2021, when he erupted for an MLB-leading 48 jacks and led the American League with a 1.002 OPS in his age-22 season.
At the moment, Guerrero is on the seven-day concussion injured list following a Friday night collision at third base with New York Yankees rookie shortstop George Lombard Jr. Guerrero took a knee to the head amid a bizarre sixth-inning sequence that resulted in him scoring a game-tying run on a throwing error.
The Blue Jays emerged victorious and wound up winning two contests in the three-game set with the Yankees. At 61-65, Toronto came into Monday evening a game back of the final wild-card spot in the AL. Before selling some pieces in the lead-up to the trade deadline, Toronto’s disappointing first half included Guerrero’s slump.
He’s also navigated back pain this season. A lower-back issue is what he referenced when explaining why he was opting out of this year’s All-Star Game. And he left a July 28 loss to the Washington Nationals due to right hamstring tightness.
But he’s remained a mainstay in the Blue Jays’ lineup in his second season after inking a 14-year, $500 million extension that reportedly came with a creative $325 million signing bonus.
Last Tuesday, after he nearly ended his regular-season homer drought in Toronto with a laser to center field versus the Boston Red Sox, he told The Athletic that when God “decides the home run will come, it’ll come.”
“I know it’s going to come. I just keep praying and keep working hard,” Guerrero said at the time, via The Athletic. “Eventually, it’s going to come.”
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