The Best Shape of His Life
Keep fit, have fun
Vladimir Guerrero Jr’s physical fitness is not my favourite subject. Successful baseball players come in all shapes and sizes. The skills and abilities used on the baseball diamond are not consistent with those of an NBA stretch-four or a world class sprinter, so the expectation that ball players look like those athletes are misguided.
Beyond that, comments about Guerrero’s body type typically originate from ugly, toxic corners of sports fandom. Attacks on Vlad Jr’s size are often just that: attacks.
As the season wears on and Guerrero appears to wear down, the whispers got louder and one question was asked over and again: Is Vladimir Guerrero Jr’s conditioning behind the slow(ish) start to his big league career?
The problem with this question is it’s almost impossible to answer. Is his bat slow? Is that a lack of strength or something else? Is his timing off? Is that because he can’t get himself into the positions required to hit big league pitching in 2019? Is he struggling to clear his hips or fire his ands through the hitting zone or whatever? In the end, there are so many variables playing into his (not great but not awful) .276/.344/.442 season line, it’s hard to isolate his fitness as the number one factor.
But the (never productive) conversation around his size and conditioning came to a head this week, as Sportsnet’s Arash Madani reported on Vlad Jr’s off-season workout plans, which would include lifting weights for perhaps the first time?
Guerrero attempted to clarify his comments, noting that he works out in a more old school manner set forth by his uncle, Wilton Guerrero, when preparing for the long rigours of the baseball season.
The word “rigour” is not there accidentally, as I believe it’s the biggest issue holding Guerrero back in 2019. Already this year we’ve heard stories of Vlad Jr having a series of come to Jesus moments, where he realizes life in the big leagues is not as easy as he expected.
In today’s game, you can’t just fall out of bed and hit. You can’t be prepared for the speed of the game, the grind of the travel and endless slog of a 95-loss season just because you have preternatural hand-eye coordination and barrel control. It’s not enough. Not now, with so much on the line and people bound and determined to watch you fall.
That Guerrero seems enthusiastic about embracing a fulsome fitness plan going into the offseason is great. That he will set forth specific goals to achieve after working closely with the coaches and trainers in Toronto and, presumably, Dunedin, is encouraging.
And while the dusty boxing gym aesthetic of flipping Uncle Wilton’s truck tires may not match the glamour of José Bautista’s ninja yoga or some of the hyperfocused crossfit other players might undertake, Vlad Jr seems to have received the message loud and clear: it takes a lot.
Most players spend the offseason bulking up and building strength, recognizing the season is long and the opportunities to build mass do not present themselves between 11pm dinners and noon power shag sessions. The work is the thing, and it’s always going to be the thing.
The capacity to learn from disappointment, to learn from your body and from your peers and learn from experience of a baseball season straight up kicking your ass from Tampa to Seattle is going to benefit Guerrero in the long run. It’s a different type of adversity, the type that will pay big dividends down the road.
Don’t expect Vlad Jr to show up to spring training looking like Anthony Alford or Teoscar Hernández, no matter how much weight he vows to lose. He’s going to still be Vladimir Guerrero Jr., a version with a clearer sense of who is and who he needs to be. The time has come to put in the work.