Guerrero sounds off at spring training
Top prospect hit the cage with a mix of power and contact to create a sound all his own
With a crack of the bat, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. announced his presence at Toronto Blue Jays spring training Saturday.
Baseball’s top prospect reported to Dunedin Stadium three days after pitchers and catchers — and two days before position players must show — and al- most immediately got to work. By midmorning he was taking batting practice in front of a smattering of fans in the stands whose attention was piqued every time Guerrero, with his can’t-miss bleached dreadlocks and burly build, strolled into the cage.
The few who weren’t paying close enough attention needed only listen for the unique noise that echoed when Guerrero’s bat connected with the ball, his mix of power and contact creating a sound all its own.
There have been some good hitters in the Blue Jays’ ranks in recent years — players like 2015 MVP Josh Donaldson and 2010 and 2011 home-run king Jose Bautista — who each produced a different sound. But Devon Travis, who hit in the same group as Guerrero on Saturday, said there is no mistaking the 19year-old’s swings.
“When he’s hitting, you don’t even have to look,” Travis said. “You know it’s coming off someone’s bat that’s a little bit different.”
Guerrero’s arrival brightened up the clubhouse, hitting coach Guillermo Martinez said, just like the teenager brightens up every room he walks into. His mix of talent and humility is what most impresses Martinez about Guerrero, who he also worked with last year when he was the Jay’s minor-league hitting co-ordinator.
“He’s a loving character, everybody wants to talk to him but he keeps it very simple, he’s not trying to be bigger than anyone else,” Martinez said. “He’s a fun guy to be around.”
Martinez, who deadpanned that Guerrero was a “decent hitter” when discussing his batting practice, said the slugger shows up every day under control and focused on what he wants to accomplish: mainly to hit the ball hard. His line drives Saturday were going over the fence, threatening a nearby school that backs onto the stadium.
Guerrero engaged his back hip well and kept his approach uncomplicated in the cage, Martinez observed, adding the third baseman thinks about what he is trying to do with every swing. It is what Martinez calls a “professional” batting practice.
“Focused, not just taking swings, understanding what they’re trying to do with their bodies, understanding how they’re trying to hit the ball, what direction they’re trying to hit the ball and staying consistent doing that,” Martinez said. “You can see guys that swing the bat just to swing the bat but Vladdy, and not just Vladdy but a lot of the other guys, they came out here and showed how they prepare the whole entire off-season.”
Jays manager Charlie Montoyo missed Guerrero’s stint in the cage, but he was briefed about the performance.
“I didn’t even get to see him because I went to the (Jays’ minor league-complex) but, from talking to (third-base coach) Luis Rivera, he said he looked good taking ground balls and stuff and then Guillermo Martinez also said that, as you guys know, the ball gets off his bat pretty good,” Montoyo said. “I guess he looked pretty good.”
It is already obvious to Guerrero’s future teammates, like Travis, that he lives up to his reputation as the best up-andcoming player in the game, a .381 hitter with a 1.073 OPS in 2018.
“Obviously the hype around him is strong and it’s real and there’s not much fake about it,” Travis said. “The kid can flatout hit, and that’s a fact. He’s going to hit and he will hit.”
But Travis and his colleagues are trying not to get caught up in the hype, no matter how happy they are to have Guerrero on their side, or how excited they are to see him in the big leagues.
Guerrero may have strong bloodlines and be used to the limelight thanks to his pedigree, but he is also a teenager navigating his first majorleague spring training invite, a player who recently said his first order of business in Florida would be to meet all of his older teammates and pick their
GUERRERO from S1
brains about the secrets to being a successful big-leaguer.
Guerrero will be in the majors soon, though likely not until mid- to late April, and there will be a learning curve from there. In the meantime, is veteran teammates like Travis will help him along.
“We all have work to do and he’s still a younger guy and we want to make sure that he is comfortable and not getting affected too much by the outside noise.”