{"id":774313,"date":"2026-07-01T23:52:13","date_gmt":"2026-07-01T23:52:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/774313\/"},"modified":"2026-07-01T23:52:13","modified_gmt":"2026-07-01T23:52:13","slug":"blue-jays-rout-mets-on-canada-day-as-guerrero-jr-shows-signs-of-progress","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/774313\/","title":{"rendered":"Blue Jays rout Mets on Canada Day as Guerrero Jr. shows signs of progress"},"content":{"rendered":"

TORONTO \u2013 This current bout of back tightness for Vladimir Guerrero Jr.<\/a> feels similar to the one that locked him a couple of weeks ago, although this time it\u2019s a little bit higher up.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cMore toward the obliques right now,\u201d the Toronto Blue Jays<\/a> first baseman said Wednesday. \u201cBut I feel way better than yesterday.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, Guerrero missed his fifth game of the year, one short of his single-season career high and almost a third of the way to his cumulative total of 18 from 2020 through 2025. A couple of weeks ago, he wasn\u2019t sure what led his back to tighten, but the cause this time was clear \u2013 the heavy slate of extra work aimed at getting him right at the plate.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

He\u2019s been doing \u201ca lot, like 300 swings a day before games, after games, probably like 100,\u201d Guerrero said. \u201cI have to get better and sitting here (in the clubhouse), I\u2019m not going to get better. I have to take a lot of swings to get better. It\u2019s part of the game.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some dividends from all those rips began to show, as he ended an 0-for-12 skid with a single and lined out to left field at 107.1 m.p.h. in Monday\u2019s 2-1 win over the New York Mets, while he ripped a first-inning double that helped plate the game\u2019s opening run and later walked and scored in a 9-3 Canada Day romp, ending a maddening 3-7 homestand.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Blue Jays (41-46) seized control of the contest in the third on Ernie Clement\u2019s RBI double and a three-run shot from Sean Keys<\/a> that was his first home run in the majors, while Daulton Varsho\u2019s RBI single and Myles Straw<\/a>\u2019s three-run drive in the seventh turned it into a laugher.<\/p>\n

On the first bullpen day since Patrick Corbin was demoted to the bullpen, the outburst was timely, even as opener Braydon Fisher with a clean first, Spencer Miles<\/a> (three shutout frames) and Corbin (five innings, three runs) navigated a low-stress day before a crowd of 41,842.<\/p>\n

Welcome as all of the above was, Guerrero\u2019s progress remains the most impactful variable in this uneven Blue Jays season, a driver of his work in recent weeks.<\/p>\n

While he joked that he\u2019s \u201ctrying to find (a way) to hit the ball at nobody,\u201d better stacking his weight on his back leg, leading to a more forceful stride rather than a softer swing forward with his front leg has been a focal point. He\u2019s been doing that off both 100 m.p.h. fastballs and curveballs from the iPitch machine, \u201ctrying to put my swing in the perfect situation to go out there and do my job.\u201d<\/p>\n

Guerrero is cognizant that he\u2019s not there yet.<\/p>\n

\u201cI’m going to learn a lot of this season, in a good way,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m a person that doesn’t care how I’m going, I just go out there and try to help the team doing whatever I can to win, you know? I never make excuses. If I’m not doing my job, I know I’m not doing my job. But I believe in God. I believe in me. I know one day it’s going to click my way and I hope it’s going to be soon.\u201d<\/p>\n

To that end, he\u2019s going to keep on swinging, managing through the toll on his body.<\/p>\n

The deep run to the World Series last year changed his off-season, he said, as he typically begins his work in the beginning of November, which is when the Blue Jays\u2019 2025 finished. As such, he pushed back the start of his work for 2026 to the start of December, which has made this season \u201ca little bit harder, but it’s nothing to complain about, it’s not an excuse. But that’s one of the things my body feels.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another is that his swing feels \u201cperfect\u201d in the cage, but during games, \u201cit’s different.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI don’t know, I have no idea,\u201d he said, shaking his head. \u201cMechanically, I feel good. I have no idea what happens, but I know I’m going to figure it out. And, when I figure it out, something good will come.\u201d<\/p>\n

One element he comes back to is that \u201cinstead of letting the pitcher come to me, I just want to hit the ball before they throw it,\u201d Guerrero added. \u201cI think, as of now, I’ve been taking better at-bats and I know something big is coming.\u201d<\/p>\n

The sooner the better for a Blue Jays team similarly trying to find its way.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TORONTO \u2013 This current bout of back tightness for Vladimir Guerrero Jr. feels similar to the one that…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":774314,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[49,48,44],"class_list":["post-774313","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-canada","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/774313","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=774313"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/774313\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/774314"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=774313"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=774313"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=774313"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}