Vlad Jr. hits 19th HR: 'It's just easy for him'

BOSTON -- Vladimir Guerrero Jr. might wake up to a maintenance bill from Fenway Park after his demolition derby on Friday night.

Guerrero opened his night in the 6-5 loss to the Red Sox with a line-drive single that dented the top of the Green Monster, and Guerrero followed that up with a double that clanked loudly off the scoreboard on the bottom half. With the wall weakened, Guerrero decided to clear it altogether, launching a 443-foot home run over the Monster and over the seats. Only a distant billboard could stop it from finding a car window on Lansdowne St.

By the time the ball had ricocheted back onto the field, Guerrero was just easing into his 19th home run trot of the season, giving him sole possession of the MLB lead once again over Ronald Acuña Jr.

Performances like this have become normal for Guerrero, but there’s nothing normal about it. All three hits came on exit velocities north of 110 mph, and all three came when he was behind in the count. In the middle of it all, Guerrero worked a full count and took a walk to keep an inning alive, setting up an RBI single for Teoscar Hernández.

Guerrero’s patience sets up the power, then the power sets up more pitches that allow him to be patient. It’s a pitcher’s nightmare.

“We’re over here playing on ‘MVP’ mode and he’s playing on ‘Rookie’ mode,” says Ross Stripling, Friday’s starter. “It’s just easy for him.”

Things soon unraveled for the Blue Jays when Tyler Chatwood entered and lost his control entirely, leading to another ugly night for the bullpen. The Red Sox walked it off in the bottom of the ninth on an Alex Verdugo single, and Jordan Romano wasn’t available, dealing with right forearm tightness, so there’s simply no good news on the relief front for Toronto. Until that’s fixed, Guerrero will need to do what he’s done all season long by carrying this club to a few extra wins. That’s not ideal, but it’s the reality for now.

The home run is the trademark moment of the night, of course, because it shows just how small the margin of error is for opposing pitchers when they’re facing Guerrero. Boston reliever Hirokazu Sawamura set up Guerrero with a swinging strike on a splitter that fell down out of the zone, then a second swinging strike on a high fastball. Advantage Sawamura, right?

The home run pitch to Guerrero caught more of the inside half than Sawamura would have liked, but it wasn’t a meatball. Either way, Guerrero pulled in his hands and showed the elite bat speed that helped make him baseball’s No. 1 prospect in early 2019. It wasn’t always there in late ‘19 and through '20, but Guerrero is now doing to Major League pitchers what he did to Minor League pitchers once upon a time.

“That’s just impressive,” said manager Charlie Montoyo. “It’s 97 mph. The guy threw one by him and figured he’d throw him another one, but he got to it. That’s not easy to do. To hit it that high and that hard, that was impressive.”

Now hitting .336 with a 1.106 OPS, Guerrero is putting himself in position to take a run at the Triple Crown and the American League MVP Award. Sustaining his success is the key to it all, but there’s no fluke to this. Guerrero’s offseason training has paid off immediately, fulfilling the vision the Blue Jays have had since he debuted in 2019, and there’s no denying that he’s one of the best players in baseball right now. The only challenge is finding new ways to describe what he’s doing on a nightly basis.

This home run race is also shaping up to be one of the best stories in the sport. With Acuña, Shohei Ohtani and Fernando Tatis Jr. right on Guerrero’s heels, this represents a coming together of the most exciting athletes in baseball, doing the one thing baseball fans love most. Guerrero has the edge for now, and while Friday’s game ended with a sour taste, the stage is set for Guerrero to own the spotlight through the summer and down the stretch.