TORONTO — The Toronto Blue Jays haven’t discovered time travel, but they did find a way to transport fans to the past on Sunday.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. started at third base for the first time since Sept. 27, 2019 — his rookie season. As a prospect, Guerrero was developed as a third baseman and started 94 games there during his first year with the club.
But before the 2020 season, the Blue Jays moved Guerrero to first base, which has remained his primary position ever since. Outside of a handful of late-game appearances in 2021 and 2022, totalling four innings, Guerrero hasn’t played third base in an MLB game in more than four years.
Nostalgia didn’t drive manager John Schneider’s decision to start Guerrero at third base, however. The decision came down to getting an extra bat in the starting lineup. With Guerrero playing third, the Blue Jays could use Justin Turner at first base and Daniel Vogelbach at designated hitter. It’s a defensive scheme the team and Guerrero have talked about for a few weeks, but Schneider said the team waited until now to do it so Guerrero could get reacquainted with the position.
“Vladdy’s comfortable there,” Schneider said. “I think today was kind of a target date with everything that he was working through to put himself in a position to be ready. And Vogey’s swinging the bat well, so it worked out today.”
Indeed, the creative lineup configuration paid off when Vogelbach hit a go-ahead double in the fifth inning, helping the Blue Jays ultimately beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 5-4 at the Rogers Centre. It was the Blue Jays’ second straight series win and their fifth win in their last six games.
Danny Doubles ‼️ pic.twitter.com/h6D926a5Lk
— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) June 2, 2024
The series also wrapped up a 13-game portion of Toronto’s schedule that was considered easy based on the level of competition they were facing, which included the last-place Chicago White Sox, the Detroit Tigers and the Pirates, who are now 27-32. During that span, the Blue Jays won three of four series, including a sweep of the White Sox on the road, and went 8-5 overall. Their record is now 28-30.
“You want to get more wins, no matter who you’re playing, really,” the manager said. “What I like is the path that we’re on offensively and it’s getting to be a little bit more consistent to score in multiple innings. Again, technically it’s a soft spot of the schedule, but you got to win. It doesn’t matter who you play, you got to try to get as many wins as you can. But I think the way we’re playing right now is good and there’s always room to get better.”
With the Blue Jays trailing 3-1 midway through the fifth, Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Davis Schneider opened the inning with back-to-back singles. With one out, Guerrero hit an RBI single to make it a one-run game before Vogelbach launched a ball into the right-centre field gap, scoring two and putting the Blue Jays ahead for the first time in the afternoon. Toronto added an insurance run in the sixth inning after an RBI double from Schneider.
Despite a slow start to the season, Vogelbach has received praise from his manager for his work ethic and dedication to being ready on the bench at all times. And lately, Vogelbach has been making the most of his limited at-bats, quietly going 9-for-20 over his last eight games and increasing OPS to .681 — nearly 300 points higher than the .384 OPS he had on May 12.
“I try not to, over a small sample size, worry about results,” Vogelbach said after his 2-for-4 game. “I think that you drive yourself crazy looking at the scoreboard or looking at stats, rather than just putting the work in and hitting the ball hard and having good at-bats and you look up at the end of the year, and we’ll see where we’re at. A guy always told me that it takes a long time to have a good season.”
Moving Guerrero to third is just the latest attempt by the Blue Jays to optimize a lineup that ranks 24th in runs scored. It paid off on Sunday, but is it going to be a regular occurrence?
“Maybe a couple of days out of a week and a half, something like that,” John Schneider said. “It’s not a position change by any means, but I think it just offers some flexibility. Kind of like what we did with (Turner) early in the year. I think the days that you saw (Turner), you could probably expect to see Vladdy over there and try to maximize other guys on the roster.”
If Vogelbach continues to swing the bat well and if Turner can put his month of May behind him and start collecting hits like he did in April, is it possible the Blue Jays would use a lineup with Guerrero at third more regularly? Schneider would only say, “We’ll see.”
“The things that he can do offers us some flexibility,” Schneider said. “Every starter that we face is going to be different. If we like Vogey instead of JT or JT instead of Vogey or a catcher DH-ing or getting someone off their feet to DH, it’ll be kind of fluid.”
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is playing third base today for the first time since 2019. pic.twitter.com/FbFM7wNBhG
— Foul Territory (@FoulTerritoryTV) June 2, 2024
The Blue Jays manager praised Guerrero for making the move to third: “You got to give a lot of credit to Vlad because it’s not easy to do. And it shows what kind of teammate he is.”
Back in his rookie season, Guerrero struggled on defence at times, finishing with 17 errors and minus-3 defensive runs saved at third base. But in the years in between, Guerrero still practiced there and had been taking ground balls at the position lately, including before Sunday’s game.
During the game, Guerrero had to wait until the seventh inning for a ball to be hit toward him — a routine ground ball from Pirates second baseman Nick Gonzales that Guerrero fielded successfully. Then in the eighth, Guerrero made a nifty play, ranging to the right and making a throw from deep in the six hole.
Vladdy 👏 From 👏 Short 👏 pic.twitter.com/EMUgJ5GIOX
— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) June 2, 2024
Asked how it was to be back in the position, Guerrero said he felt “great” and “pretty normal.”
“All this time, I’ve always told the manager and everybody that I’m available in case they need me, that I’m ready to play third, and just today, it happened and I was ready for it,” Guerrero said through team interpreter Hector Lebron.
Guerrero has won a Gold Glove at first base, but since the time he signed out of the Dominican Republic as a 16-year-old, third base has remained Guerrero’s favourite position. On Sunday, he was able to start at it in an MLB game for the first time in nearly five years. It worked out and if the team needs him to do so again, he’s more than willing.
“I’m the kind of person, the kind of player, that thinks if you can play both corners, first and third, the right way that will give your manager and your team more options, like today,” he said. “Regardless if third is my favourite position, I’ll be preparing first or third, wherever the team needs me.”
(Photo of Guerrero making a play Sunday: John E. Sokolowski / USA Today)
