There are only so many ways to say “this guy is very good.” There are only so many adjectives to describe one of the best seasons in club history. But that’s what we’re seeing and what we should probably continue looking for ways to appreciate.
Right now, Vladimir Guerrero Jr has amassed the fourth most home runs ever in a single Blue Jays season. But he’s not done. There are 18 games remaining for him to collect five more, becoming just the second player in club history to hit 50.
With many more meaningful games to play, many of which against bad teams with awful pitching staffs, Vlad Jr’s is conducing a one-man assault on the Blue Jays record book.
Some highlights:
45 home runs (fourth)
.612 SLG (third)
.407 OBP (ninth)
.318 AVG (13th)
1.018 OPS (fifth)
174 OPS+ (fourth)
171 wRC+ (fourth)
.425 wOBA (fourth)
54.2 batting runs (fourth)
Some of these are counting stats and will only go up. Others are rate stats and unlikely to budge too much in the span of three weeks. But just like a few percentage points of batting average either way doesn’t invalidate his season or make him the guaranteed MVP, the details are less vital than the entire experience.
So while I, with my limited prose and touch-and-go relationship with editing, may lack the words to describe what I’m seeing, Vlad Jr wants to help. He has figured out a way to one-up himself in terms of visceral experiences. He hits home runs unlike those we’ve seen before, sending a screaming line drive out of the park that would rivals the mythical feats of Josh Gibson and Buck Leonard were there not a dozen 8K cameras trained on Guerrero’s every movement.
There is no Statcast search I can perform to do that batted ball justice. To drop the head on an inside fastball, to “hook it down the line” while keeping it fair AND hitting it over the fence, it’s surreal. The sound, the reaction of the crowd (worked to a frenzy during this delightful drubbing of the hated Rays) - it all works. This is an example of why show is often better than tell.
There is no need to say more than what that clip shows. You mind tells you more than I ever could, as it prepares itself to see something awesome every time Vlad Jr digs in. It often comes on the first pitch, so you need to stay ready. There’s no time to get ready for what he might do, so you start mapping out your drink breaks and washroom times around his next plate appearance.
Opposing teams and fans are doing that math, too. They know when he’s coming up, as the tension in the stadium becomes palpable. They know what we know: something incredible is about to happen, because incredible things do tend to happen when there’s a bat in the hands of Vladimir Guerrero Jr.