There it is again, the gravitational pull of a superstar.
The Toronto Blue Jays are orbiting around Vladimir Guerrero Jr. again, one of the hottest hitters on the planet who is putting on the biggest renaissance tour since Beyoncé.
Vladdy doubled, tripled and homered while driving in four runs in Thursday night’s 7-6 win over the Orioles at Rogers Centre, extending his hitting streak to 20 games with another overwhelming performance. Over this streak, Guerrero has hit 10 home runs and taken more walks (11) than strikeouts (seven). He’s not just showing flashes and glimmers of what once was, he’s all the way back.
The talent has always been there, but what makes this so significant is that it felt like we’d never see it again. Coming off his brilliant 2021 season, when only Shohei Ohtani could keep Guerrero from claiming the American League MVP Award, he’d been what the rest of the baseball would consider a “very good” hitter for two-plus years. Ninety percent of the league would have been happy with his numbers, but this is Vladdy, the great hope whose expectations have never been down here where normal players live.
Now batting .321 with a .945 OPS, Guerrero has thrust himself into the race for the AL batting title, where the rest of the world is still chasing down Bobby Witt Jr. (.349). Thursday’s home run was Guerrero’s 23rd of the season, which tells you how slow his start to the year was, and while he’s not about to take a run at his career high of 48 in 2021, his OPS that year — 1.002 — is suddenly within reach.
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