ONE STEP TO GO
Excitement surrounding Vlady Jr., rises with his triple-A debut
BUFFALO — For roughly a half-hour on Tuesday afternoon on the infield at CocaCola Field, a group of reporters fired questions at uber-prospect Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
The media scrum had reached the point where some of the queries went off the grid, the session bottoming out when a local guy asked: “Does your grandma make you do your own laundry or do you do it?”
Guerrero replied that his grandmother doesn’t allow him to do his laundry. And so there you have it. On the other hand, Guerrero’s arrival at triple-A Buffalo this week has become such a big story that Blue Jays fans will probably eat up, with relish, anything the young third baseman says or does on the field, even the “news” that his grandmother has moved from New Hampshire to Buffalo to continue to look after her grandson as he climbs up the organizational ladder.
All the signs are that the 19-year-old is destined for greatness. Guerrero, who was signed as an international free agent by the Jays in 2015, has developed quicker than anyone anticipated.
The Jays are hoping for great things from the son of hall of famer Vlad Sr., but he’s exceeded those expectations. He’s a teenager who was promoted to triple-A without anyone suggesting that it’s been a rush job. In fact, it’s just the opposite.
The Montreal-born slugger started the year in the Gulf Coast League, with the Bisons representing his fourth stop of the season — the last level before the big leagues.
Guerrero completely ate up pitching at double-A. In 61 games with the Fisher Cats, he hit .402 with 14 home runs and 60 RBIs, despite being the youngest player in all of double-A. If he had posted just 10 more plate appearances (he missed a little more than a month with a strained tendon in his left knee), his average would qualify and be 45 points higher than any hitter in minor-league ball.
His .671 slugging percentage would also top all minorleague hitters by an astounding 54 points. So the move to triple-A is no rush job.
Everything about Guerrero screams real deal. Blue Jays fans, who haven’t had much to get excited about the past two seasons, are anxious to see what the kid can do against triple-A pitching and whether the hype has been justified. The organization wants to see what he can do against a higher level of pitching while he continues to work on his defence. The hope is he can develop into a solid everyday third baseman and not just a major-league DH.
“I’ve only seen him play one game — one game and one at-bat,” said Bisons manager Bobby Meacham. “So the excitement for me is just to see him go out there and perform and see if he’s as good as everybody says he is as a hitter and to help him get better as these games go on.
“Every day he comes out here, my job is to help him improve. His first-step quickness, they say, has gotten a lot better and they say his arm strength has gotten better over the years. They say he’s really, really improved, especially his defence, and I’m really looking forward to seeing that.”
As for triple-A pitching, Guerrero will see more and better change-ups and guys who can hit their spots, along with the big fastballs.
“Guys will aim for weaknesses at this level more ... and give him less (good) pitches to hit per at-bat,” said Meacham. “Hopefully, in Vladdy’s case, he doesn’t start guessing, he just makes sure he hits that pitch, that one they give him to hit.”
Speaking through translator Rafael Dubois, the Bisons’ mental performance coach, Guerrero said he is not worried about the transition to the second-highest level of pro ball.
“It’s the same baseball,” he said. “The only thing that I need to do is go out there and play the game.”
Guerrero was born in Canada, but doesn’t speak much English. And it’s clear that he is totally unperturbed by this latest promotion — and the surrounding hype. On Tuesday, the young Dominican was relaxed and confident, even dropping a couple of jokes, such as when he was asked if his grandmother made the trip with him to Buffalo.
“Of course,” he said. “If I move to China, she comes with me.”