Blue Jays: Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Gets MVP Talk as Toronto Struggles

As the Toronto Blue Jays wasted a Hyun-Jin Ryu quality start in Dunedin and sputtered to their fifth straight loss, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. had just one hit on Sunday afternoon. The Blue Jays allowed four runs in the top of the ninth to the Tampa Rays to lose 6-4 and fall to 23-22 on the year.

Now, if they lose on Monday not only will they be swept but sitting at .500 in a division where three foes are surging, they will be firmly entrenched as the fourth place team in the division.

Still, Guerrero Jr. is being talked about as a serious MVP candidate with Mike Trout on the shelf and Shohei Ohtani being a relative unknown as far as what he will provide for the rest of the season for Anaheim.

Through Sunday, Guerrero Jr. is hitting .331 on the year with a 1.076 OPS in a year where offense has been down across the board league wide.

From the Toronto Star article:

Heading into play Friday, Guerrero was in the top five in myriad stats: tied for first in wins above replacement (WAR), as calculated by FanGraphs; second in weighted runs created plus (wRC+); third in weighted on-base average (wOBA), on-base plus slugging percentage, and on-base percentage. The list goes on.

Somehow when you read the Toronto General Manager Ross Atkins’ quote on his budding young star, you begin to believe him in that he’s not just saying something to flatter or fluff the media.

“There’s no challenge too great for him,” general manager Ross Atkins said of Guerrero’s competitive spirt last week. “He embraces them and enjoys that.”

Hopefully Guerrero Jr. can put a big week together to end the month of May and head into the summer months in Buffalo with a chance at some true monster numbers.

Either way, Vladdy Jr. is on the map now as a presence in MLB that we have been waiting on for what seems like so long. And who knows, maybe if he can put together an offensive season that is so much more remarkable than any other and the Jays are in contention until late in the year, he garners some Most Valuable Player consideration in the American league.