Vladimir Guerrero Jr has had a pretty good couple weeks. First he was named the first-ever winner of the Juan Marichal Award, given to the top Dominican player of the year.
A few days later, the finalists for the American League’s Most Valuable Player were announced and, lo and beyond, there’s Vlad Jr! He was later one of three Blue Jays named as American League Silver Sluggers.
And then Vlad Jr claimed the American League’s Hank Aaron award as the best hitter in the junior circuit1. That’s a big deal! Only four Blue Jays ever claimed the award, with Guerrero joining Carlos Delgado, Josh Donaldson and José Bautista, who won it twice.
Pretty good company and a very serious honour. But the real highlight, for multiple reasons, was the mini press tour Vlad Jr undertook after his win. It included a big segment on MLB Network, where he spoke English while rocking the rare2 turtleneck & chain combination! On TV! Go on, big man.
There are plenty of good tidbits to draw from this segment, beyond Vlad Jr’s confidence to go on TV while speaking English. There should be no expectation that he speaks his second language if he doesn’t want to, but if it’s something he’s working towards, it’s a great sign and something to applaud.
When he talks hitting, in any language, I’m all ears. It shouldn’t be too surprising that a hitter of Guerrero’s abundant physical talents opts to keep it simple at the plate. He eschews the concept of “launch angle” in this setting, though we know it’s something he and the hitting coaches worked on indirectly.
The one thing that caught — and kept — my attention was an adjustment not in his approach at the plate but in how he prepares for the game.
On August 11, I wrote that I believed Vlad Jr was tired. You can read that post here and take a look at the graph below. I highlighted the low point on the graph, which represents August 12.
As it turns out, I was not completely out to lunch. Vlad Jr (this time speaking with a translator) noted that he was feeling tired down the stretch so he and the club opted for him to skip on-field batting practice.
You can see above that this approach presumably contributed to his rebound through the final weeks of the season. It was great to hear the team was supportive of his need to rest when he could and find the time to prepare for games back in the cage.
It’s going to be another big week for Vlad Jr as he is about to finish second in the American League MVP voting as noted above. He’s not going to win (sportsbooks currently have Ohtani’s odds at 1/25, which is a far cry from the 40/1 offered in February) but finishing second is still really, really good! It was an amazing season and the next one can’t start soon enough.
These are heady days for Vlad Jr the brand as much as #27 for the Toronto Blue Jays. He’s becoming famous, very very famous for a baseball player! Conducting interviews in English, winning accolades, wearing cool sweaters - this is what the off-season is all about after you put together a monster season on the field. The accolades will keep coming but my hope is that the work continues and the adjustments keep coming to make next winter of even more hardware and even richer rewards3.
Tell me you’re an old man without telling me you’re an old man.
Also considered based
Inshallah.