The $500 million man for the Toronto Blue Jays, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., continues to search for his 2025 postseason power. He put up impeccable numbers across 18 games in last year’s postseason with eight home runs, a 1.289 OPS, 15 RBIs and 18 runs scored.
But the 27-year-old’s recent at-bats have been frustrating to watch. In the Blue Jays’ 5-2 loss against the Philadelphia Phillies, Vladdy had two chances to cash in runners in scoring position.
In the sixth inning, he had two runners on base with NL Cy Young contender Cristopher Sanchez on the mound for the Phillies, and struck out. He then came in the eighth inning with two runners on base, representing the tying run, facing Brad Keller and yet again struck out.
Looking specifically at the sixth inning, his sequence of out-of-zone swings had him swing at two pitches outside of the zone while not swinging at two pitches that were strikes.
Swing decisions that have you question his approach at the plate. Before the Phillies series, Guerrero Jr. was optimistic that he was going to break out of his slump soon, stating, “I’m going to be good. When I get hot, I’ll get hot.”