TORONTO – The focus, quite rightfully, tends to be on Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s increasingly impressive exploits at the plate. He is in the midst of a remarkably special offensive season, one with the potential to be among the best ever by a Toronto Blue Jays player if it continues at the current pace.
On occasion, his rapidly steadying play at first base gets some props, too, as his range, reads and picks continue to improve as his comfort at the position grows. And then there are the often-overlooked gains he’s made on the basepaths, where his sprint speed has improved from an average of 25.3 feet per second last year to a middle of the pack 27.0 this year, according to Statcast.
That difference was enough for Guerrero to narrowly beat out an infield single in the fourth inning Saturday – outrunning Alex Bregman’s strong throw after the third baseman dove to snare a potential double – and trigger a four-run rally that carried the Blue Jays to a 6-2 win over the Houston Astros.
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“Whatever I have to do for the team to win, I’ll do that,” said Guerrero, speaking through interpreter Hector Lebron. “I’m willing to do anything defensively, offensively. Like before, if for some reason I made an error or something, keep my head up and try to keep helping the team. It’s all about winning here. I will do anything to help my team to win.”
Teoscar Hernandez followed the good hustle play with another base hit and Guerrero then sped home on Lourdes Gurriel Jr.’s base hit to shallow left field, scoring easily ahead of Chas McCormick’s poor throw home. Joe Panik then delivered a three-run homer to right that made it a 4-1 game and the Blue Jays didn’t look back from there.
Guerrero’s strong baserunning underlined the comprehensive manner in which the emergent 22-year-old can dominate a baseball game, all of which were on display Saturday.
“For sure,” agreed manager Charlie Montoyo. “He takes his hits, too. A tough sidearmer like Joe Smith there in the seventh, tough to see, and he hits a base hit to right field. He’s a complete player right now and he’s only going to get better. You can say how can that happen? I believe it because he’s still a young guy, he’s still got plenty of baseball left. And the way he’s playing first and the way he’s hitting, he’s probably one of the best players in baseball right now.”
In the first inning, as Carlos Correa beat out an infield single, Guerrero alertly spotted Jose Altuve rounding second and trying for third on the play, firing a laser across the diamond to covering shortstop Bo Bichette for a pivotal out.
Having watched Altuve in action, he anticipated the play once Panik’s throw from first went to the wide side of the bag and after Bichette cleverly put the tag down, Guerrero wagged his index finger at those who might test him.
“That’s just part of the game, emotions like, ‘You know what? You’re not going to run on me,’” said Guerrero.
The next inning, he ranged to his right to snag a Yuli Gurriel grounder and relayed cleanly to starter Ross Stripling.
After playing catalyst during the decisive fourth with his legs, Guerrero put the dagger in Jose Urquidy’s ill-fated start in the fifth when he timed up a 77.8 m.p.h. slider and launched a high-arching drive over the wall in left field. The two-run shot made it 6-1 and put him atop the AL’s triple crown categories heading into the night’s action with 18 homers, 47 RBIs and a .338 average.
For good measure, Guerrero made a nice pick on a Myles Straw smash in the seventh, making meaningful contributions in every facet of the game.
“I’m not about numbers. I’m very proud right now of everything good that I do on the field to help the team win. That’s what I’m very proud of,” said Guerrero. “And, of course, all the work that I did in the off-season is paying off right now, and I’m very proud of that, too.”
The only thing Guerrero didn’t do against the Astros was pitch, and the Blue Jays had that piece well in hand.
Stripling continued a recent resurgence after three rough outings in May, dodging some traffic in five innings of one-run ball. After he was roughed up for six runs in 3.2 innings by Boston on May 19, he realized he had been tipping his pitches, describing on the latest edition of his podcast The Big Swing how he “was going up to the bill of my cap on some pitches, like my curveball, (and) on other pitches I was only going up to my chin.”
Besides the tell, there was disruption to his timing from being in a different position on each pitch, “so my misses were big. And as we saw when my misses were big, they were getting hammered, I was giving up homers, I was giving up damage. So now, long story short, my glove is in the same spot so when I go to deliver, my timing is the same every single pitch, it doesn’t move so I’m not tipping pitches and from what I’ve seen, I’m more deceptive and my misses are smaller.”
All that played again Saturday against the Astros, who started Stripling’s May slide by getting him for three runs in 3.2 innings May 7 in Houston. But he was in much better control Saturday with a little help from his friends, as Guerrero’s play helped him avoid damage in the first, while Lourdes Gurriel Jr., made a terrific throw to get Myles Straw trying to score from second on an Altuve single in the second.
“Two plays that really changed the course of the game, for sure,” said Stripling, who called Gurriel’s throw “as good as any that I’ve seen while I’ve physically been on the field.”
Stripling was fine until the fourth, when he walked Straw with the bases loaded after a pair of two-out singles and a hit by pitch on Aledmys Diaz that knocked the former Blue Jay out of the game. He settled to get Maldonado and end the inning, pitched a clean fifth and then handed things over to the bullpen, where Tim Mayza, Trent Thornton and Rafael Dolis finished things out.
“The four-pitch walk to Straw is definitely frustrating, to walk in a run there in a 0-0 game to a guy that you definitely want to make hit his way on,” said Stripling. “Quick memory, get that out and realize you’ve got a guy that hit a grand slam the night before with the bases loaded again, he’s probably feeling confident but you’re staring at Altuve-Correa-Bregman around the corner if you don’t get Maldonado there. … Got the punch out to limit the damage there, didn’t have to face the top of the lineup so good to keep that at one run.”
All of that ensured the latest tour de force from Guerrero didn’t go to waste.
Outfielder Randal Grichuk said earlier in the day that the 30-26 Blue Jays “wouldn’t be in the situation we are in now if it wasn’t for him,” and with one of his most complete performances of the season, the young slugger demonstrated why.
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMibGh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LnNwb3J0c25ldC5jYS9tbGIvYXJ0aWNsZS92bGFkaW1pci1ndWVycmVyby1qci1kb21pbmF0ZXMtZnVsbC1hcnJheS1za2lsbHMtYmx1ZS1qYXlzLWJlYXQtYXN0cm9zL9IBc2h0dHBzOi8vd3d3LnNwb3J0c25ldC5jYS9tbGIvYXJ0aWNsZS92bGFkaW1pci1ndWVycmVyby1qci1kb21pbmF0ZXMtZnVsbC1hcnJheS1za2lsbHMtYmx1ZS1qYXlzLWJlYXQtYXN0cm9zL3NuLWFtcC8?oc=5
2021-06-05 22:24:00Z
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