Jays phenom Vladdy having a blast in Dunedin
DUNEDIN,Fla.—Itcame in the third round of batting practice on his first day at Toronto Blue Jays spring training and Vlad Guerrero Jr. certainly left a memorable impression.
Let’s just say there is a chance that the biggest of blasts he hit to left field at Dunedin Stadium has landed by now, though we’re not quite sure.
Yes, the hype is real and already inching to be over the top for a player that Jays management publicly won’t declare as being good enough to be on the rebuilding team’s opening day lineup.
But if you listened to the sound of ball leaving bat and if you saw a half dozen of the moon-shot home runs, it was difficult not to be wowed by the performance baseball’s top-rated prospect put on late Saturday morning.
His blond-tinged dreadlocks flowing, Guerrero’s compact and power-packed swing made it look frightfully easy while at the same time eye-catching. Sure it was just batting practice, but it was damned impressive.
“He was just trying to hit line drives,” Jays hitting coach Guillermo Martinez said afterward. “He’s not trying to elevate. He’s not trying to hit the school on purpose.”
But that’s exactly what he did, as teammates and a handful of fans looked on with turned heads. The 19-year-old hit multiple shots over the wall in left field and a couple high up on the scoreboard at the Jays Grapefruit League home.
After one particularly prodigious shot, outfielder Teoscar Hernandez yelled in Spanish: “Why aren’t you hitting them to me?”
Presumably Hernandez was getting a sore neck from straining to see where the Vladdy blasts landed.
While the odd Jays veteran may grumble about the attention the great Dominican hope attracts, they probably best find a way to deal with it. Guerrero will garner interest from around the baseball world and most are likely to be impressed the way Jays infielder Devon Travis was on Saturday after his front row seat during BP.
“When he’s hitting, you don’t even have to look,” said Travis, who was in the same hitting group as Guerrero. “You know it’s coming off someone’s bat that’s a little bit different.
“It’s special, man. I think the biggest thing is how simple (his swing) is. You expect a guy who has a lot of juice like that to have a lot going on. We all know what he can do. He’s a special guy.”
The Guerrero circus, as crazy as it’s expected to get, will have an upside. Blessed with his hall-of-fame father Vlad’s power and a savvy, professional swing, Guerrero has exceeded expectations at every level he’s played and will be the player expected to drive this team back to respectability.
“The thing about him is that he doesn’t walk around like he knows who he is,” says Jays pitcher Ryan Borucki, who was briefly Vlad’s teammate in the minors. “He walks around like a normal guy. That’s what a lot of people appreciate about him.
“Everyone here is supporting him. It’s all for the good. that’s what it’s like when you have a guy like that.”
Besides his batting practice session, Guerrero took part in fielding drills with Brandon Drury, the likely opening day starter at third. For a big man, Guerrero showed quick feet and a solid arm, as he continues to develop that part of his game.
In the clubhouse, he’s in the “junior” Jays section, right beside Cuban infielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr. That pair were teammates for part of last season at Double-A New Hampshire and obviously speak the same language.
There’s little doubt that Guerrero will get the rookie treatment from some of the vets as he waits for the clock to tick long enough for Jays management to set him free. But by all accounts, he’s chill enough to handle it with that big winning smile.