Vlad Jr.'s 450-foot HR gives Blue Jays Opening Day jolt

ST. PETERSBURG -- Oh, so that’s what the Blue Jays have been talking about all offseason.

A quiet start began to bubble and eventually erupted Thursday, laying out the blueprint for a bigger, bolder Blue Jays offense in their 8-2 win over the Rays on Opening Day at Tropicana Field.

If the Blue Jays want to take back their identity as a “damn good offensive team,” as John Schneider put it, they won’t get there by slapping singles and taking turns. This lineup needs to be loud. It needs to break stuff. It needs Vladimir Guerrero Jr., strolling across home plate as he admires a 450-foot shot to center that landed where baseballs simply don’t land.

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“We want guys to do damage,” Schneider said. “Getting three or four hits in an inning consistently is hard to do at this level, so it’s about the guys at the top and we want them to do damage. We want them to get into good counts and drive the ball. From that, guys throughout the lineup can complement it.”

Call it manifestation, because that’s exactly what happened. George Springer finally got the Blue Jays on the board with a solo home run in the fourth inning after some early dominance from Rays starter Zach Eflin, and after another solo shot from Cavan Biggio put the Blue Jays ahead in the sixth, the stage was set for Guerrero. The home run was Guerrero’s farthest since May 3, 2023, and one of just 10 he’s hit 450 feet in his career, according to Statcast.

Schneider disagreed, though. The computers have been called into question. He thinks it was even farther than 450.

“That’s what I thought, too,” Guerrero said with a smile through a club interpreter, “that it was more than 450. But hey, after 400, it’s all the same to me.”

This wasn’t just a home run, it was a Vladdy home run.

It was all there again, from the high finish to Guerrero’s choreography as he rounded the bases. Guerrero strolled 10 steps up the line before dropping his bat because that’s just how long it took for this moonshot to find earth again. He rounded first, pointing to the dugout, then rounded second and broke out the stutter step and skip. By the time Guerrero rounded third, his finger was up to his mouth -- “Shhh” -- and as he crossed home, he clapped those mighty hands together one last time.

The showman. The architect.

“He got that one pretty good,” said Rays manager Kevin Cash. “I mean, he's a big guy. He can hit balls a long way.”

What followed Guerrero’s blast is just as important, though. A single, a hit batter and a walk loaded the bases for Alejandro Kirk, who drove in two, and Kevin Kiermaier, who drove in another. The line kept moving after the big blows up top.

Perhaps this lineup’s identity is that it has two. The top half mashes, the bottom half strings some things together. Ideally, one half picks up the other sometimes, and on days it all works, you see something like this. Everyone gets to be exactly who they are, that “simplified” approach we’ve heard so much about under new offensive coordinator Don Mattingly.

This is such a delicate balance to strike, though. The message can’t be as simple as “swing out of your shoes,” but there needs to be some real force behind it. It’s OK to take chances and it’s OK to swing big, the ball just has to be in the right spot.

“It’s about understanding where you do damage,” Schneider said. There’s that word again.

“A lot of these guys have played for a long time,” Schneider continued. “The other side knows where they do damage, too, but how do you get into that zone? That’s the approach part. It’s just about reminding these guys, ‘Hey, you’re really good. Go up there with a purpose.’”

That’s the ticket right there. It’s not that Blue Jays hitters were without a purpose in 2023, but there seemed to be a few of them overlapping at the same time. When you get a lineup on the same page, even though different hitters are playing different roles, you get a performance like Thursday’s.

This is what the Blue Jays talked about all offseason, all February and all March. Those were just words, though.

Now that we’ve seen it happen -- even just once -- it starts to make sense. There’s a blueprint. Now, it’s time to build it.