What Has Happened To Vladimir Guerrero Jr? It's Almost August And He Has Zero (0) Home Runs At Home In Toronto
We all know about the struggles that the Blue Jays have endured this season. Just two outs from taking down the big bad Dodgers in 7 games last year, to now finding themselves at the very bottom of the American League East at 50-59. A few injuries here and there, but every team has those. These Jays have just fallen completely on their face.
But the one guy who has fallen the hardest is Vladimir Guerrero Jr., someone who used to be one of the most feared power hitters on the planet. Hell, his playoffs last year were incredible, some of the best numbers we've ever seen. Fast forward and it's almost August and he doesn't have a single home run at home all season. Cedric Mullins has more home runs in Toronto than Vladdy Jr does, the problem is that Cedric Mullins plays for the Rays. There's a handful of guys who are having downright awful years, but Vladdy has to be at the very top of that. Now throw on there that he tweaked his hamstring this week, nightmare season for Guerrero Jr.
The guy has averaged almost 32 dingers per year since 2021 and now it's an uphill battle for him to get to 10. He currently sits at six on the season. Since 2021 his lowest OPS was .788 in 2023, this year it's at .702. It's not like he's striking out a ton either, only 57 Ks in 103 games, and the average is….fine? He's hitting .265 which is good by today's standards, but this is a guy making $40 million a year, he signed a $500 million contract! You'd expect a little more power from a guy like that, but he isn't driving the ball at all, just no power at all. For the love of god, the big guy has more stolen bases than homers! Look at his savant page, not barreling up anything at all, but the bat speed is still there! Such a strange case for him.
The list of players who have at least 200 ABs at home with 0 homers are Vladdy, Chandler Simpson, and Luis Arraez. Good hitters, not power guys. Just not a group of guys I'd expect to see Guerrero linked with. There's a good chance he ends up with more homers in the 2025 playoffs than he has in the entire 2026 regular season, just not what the Jays were going to get this season. His failures are a big reason why the Jays are dead last in runs across baseball.
There's no real explanation for Vladdy's 2026 fall off either, was healthy until this week, playing in pretty much every game, just having an absolute dog shit season. I just can't fathom a world where he goes a full season without hitting a single home run at home. It doesn't make a lick of sense. That right there has to be the wildest stat to come from this baseball season, hell last year he was statistically better on the road but he still poked 12 balls out at the Rogers Centre. You'd think at some point during his home season he could barrel one up, but no dice yet. I know the is something I'll be keeping an eye on, the race to 1, can he do it? Or will he get shutout at home over a full season?