TORONTO – Tuesday afternoon at Rogers Centre, Bo Bichette kneeled beside Vladimir Guerrero Jr. near home plate and chatted with his longtime teammate. Between rounds of batting practice, they compared notes alongside Blue Jays players and coaches a few hours before first pitch, Guerrero Jr. occasionally dancing his way to the batting cage before returning to chat with Bichette.
Conversations like this are soon forgotten – they’ve happened countless times in the course of their eight seasons as teammates in the minors and majors. But over time, they have given Bichette and Guerrero Jr. unique perspectives on one another as hitters. And so when Guerrero Jr. went four for five with his 28th home run of the season later that evening, you can be sure Bichette wasn’t surprised. He is impressed with what he’s been seeing, though, even after all this time.
“I think he’s having a ton of fun, first off, which obviously comes with the territory of being the best hitter in the world,” Bichette said in a recent interview. “There’s obviously an incredible amount of confidence he’s playing with. But I mean (the media has) heard from me plenty throughout the years when everybody was doubting if he was truly that type of player. Me telling you guys, ‘I still think he’s the best hitter in the world.’ There’s never been any doubt for me watching him.”
Following his four-hit game against the Phillies, Guerrero Jr.’s now hitting .328 on the season with a .965 OPS. In a year where Aaron Judge is threatening to reach 60 home runs and Bobby Witt Jr. is hitting, fielding and running at an elite level, the AL MVP race may already be down to two players, but Guerrero Jr.’s numbers are nevertheless impressive.
Consider that in 2021, his breakout season, he posted an OPS+ of 167, meaning he was 67 per cent better than league average when accounting for ballparks and the offensive environment of the league. After Wednesday’s game, his 2024 OPS+ sits at 171 – the best of his career.
“I can’t really tell you about ’21, because it’s a long time ago,” Guerrero Jr. said in a recent interview through interpreter Hector Lebron. “Three years already. But the numbers are there.”
Entering play Wednesday, the only big-leaguer with a higher batting average than Guerrero Jr. is Witt Jr., who’s batting .340 with 28 stolen bases and Gold Glove defence at shortstop. The only players with a higher OPS+ are Judge, Juan Soto, Shohei Ohtani, Witt Jr. and Yordan Alvarez. Guerrero Jr. also ranks in the top 10 among all position players with 5.1 wins above replacement, as calculated by FanGraphs.
“He continues to get better, which is hard to do,” said manager John Schneider. “He’s impressive to watch perform every single night. I hope it doesn’t get overlooked because he’s putting himself in another category.”
And while much of Guerrero Jr.’s performance can be quantified, his numbers might be even more impressive if you consider the context of the Toronto lineup. With Bichette still on the sidelines and four other position players traded off the opening day roster, there’s no doubt who opposing pitchers are focusing on in pre-game meetings and, with all due respect to the Blue Jays’ less experienced players, it’s not Brian Serven or Luis De Los Santos.
Contrast that to 2021, when George Springer was a bigger offensive threat, Teoscar Hernandez was on the team, Bichette was healthy and Marcus Semien was setting the all-time home run record for second basemen. Back then, Guerrero Jr. had a better chance of benefitting from a mental or physical lapse. Now, any such advantages are gone as he’s the clear focus for every single manager and reliever.
With all of that said, the 25-year-old Guerrero Jr. appears to be embracing the role of young veteran. In recent pre-game hitters’ meetings, the Blue Jays have encouraged relative newcomers to speak up, and it appears to be working.
“Any decision we want to make, we get together and talk to everyone here,” Guerrero Jr. said. “For me that’s been one of the keys to our success right now. And I’m having fun.”
“I really enjoy when the young guys talk,” he added. “It makes me feel very proud.”
Though Guerrero Jr. has been an above-average hitter in each of his six big-league seasons, his offensive numbers have fluctuated substantially. In 2021, his 48-home run season placed him second to Ohtani in MVP balloting. But his OPS fell to .818 in 2022 and .788 in 2023, so when he started slowly this year it wasn’t clear where the season would lead.
Yet over the last three months, Guerrero Jr. has reached new heights as an offensive player, hitting .357 with a 1.088 OPS and 23 home runs since June 1.
“We all go through our growing pains,” said Bichette. “I’ve gone through my growing pains. If you’re going to have a long, successful career, you have to go through growing pains and you got to figure out how to get out of it. He had such a high peak at a young age that there’s probably some feeling that he had to live up to that every day he stepped on the field. Something’s just freed him up and I’m incredibly pumped to see what he’s doing.”
The numbers are impressive – and trending in the right direction for a Blue Jays team that badly needs power next year and beyond. If this continues, the Blue Jay’s chances of contending in 2025 get way better, and Guerrero Jr.’s odds of getting a huge contract improve, too. Yet at field level, Guerrero Jr. keeps his focus on the moment, trusting that good things will happen if he lets himself enjoy the ride.
“For me, the priority is to have fun out there – not my numbers,” he said. “And I really believe that if I’m out there enjoying myself and having fun, I’m going to put up great numbers.”
