Guerrero shows power, Kiermaier shows grit in tone-setting win

KANSAS CITY -- One ball nearly left Kauffman Stadium altogether and the other barely left the infield. Together, they paint the picture of the 2023 Blue Jays.

The home run from Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is something you’ve seen before, and something you’ll be seeing another 40-plus times this season if the young star continues his remarkable start. Kevin Kiermaier’s hustle double earlier in the game, though, is brand new.

This offense was more than enough behind Kevin Gausman, who didn’t even need his best velocity to shut out the Royals for six innings in Thursday’s 6-3 win. Gausman struck out seven, including some splitters that will have Royals hitters jolting awake in a cold sweat. It’s to be expected by now. Gausman’s greatness, like Guerrero’s power, is stitched into the identity of the Blue Jays.

What makes this team pop, though, giving it an offensive identity it didn’t have a year ago, are the other layers.

Something out of nothing
With two outs in the top of the second, Kiermaier rolled a ball back up the middle at 82.3 mph. There was nothing special about the play, even as the ball snuck past the infielders and rolled lazily into the outfield grass.

This is Kiermaier, though. And while most other hitters in Major League Baseball would have been coasting into first base with a smile, accepting their good fortune, Kiermaier dropped his head and blazed around first as center fielder Nate Eaton charged the ball, sliding safely into second. It’s something he’d done to the Blue Jays so many times in his Rays days.

Next up was Bo Bichette, who eventually dumped a single into right field to score Kiermaier. Given that there were two outs, this was Kiermaier creating a run out of thin air, and doing it from the nine-hole. It’s something you simply didn’t see in 2022.

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“I love it. It’s a run that probably shouldn’t happen,” manager John Schneider said. “Kevin does that. He did it to us in Tampa. We just love that kind of effort and those instincts in the field.”

Better yet for the Blue Jays? It’s contagious.

“That rubs off on guys,” said Cavan Biggio, who appreciated Kiermaier as an opponent before he joined the Blue Jays. “We’ve got a lot of speed in our lineup besides him, and when you see him make a baserunning play like that, it pays off with a two-out hit. You just see the benefits of it. I like to pick his brain and learn from him not only in the outfield, but also baserunning. It’s a lineup where we’re aggressive with the bats, but we want to be more aggressive on the basepaths, too.”

Vladdy’s back
One day after hitting his first home run of the season to the opposite field, Guerrero gave us a classic on Thursday.

His Statcast-projected 436-foot shot to left-center field cleared the wall, headed for the Kauffman Stadium fountains. Guerrero had a fine view, pausing for a moment after contact to admire his shot. The Blue Jays are seeing a calmer, more confident version of Guerrero who is no longer chasing numbers, and that’s a deadly combination.

“There’s no one that hits the ball harder than him,” Schneider said. “Maybe a couple of guys in New York, but he doesn’t need to cheat to try to get the bat head out.”

Rounding it out
There will be days the Blue Jays win 12-2 with six home runs. There will be others where they need to grind out the 3-2 win, stealing bases and moving runners. If Toronto can expand this identity through the season, though, the ability to do both is what will make the club different.

Come the postseason, margins for error shrink significantly. A more well-rounded and versatile Blue Jays team will be far more capable of shaping their game around different opponents, which is something you see perennial contenders like the Rays or Astros do.

It doesn’t hurt that Daulton Varsho and Matt Chapman are off to scorching starts, either. Chapman is hitting everything in sight, leaving this series with a .481 average built on lasers, while Varsho’s ability to drop a drag bunt, steal a base, then hit one out in his next at-bat embodies this team’s new identity as well as anyone could.

This isn’t about the Blue Jays being better or worse than their 2022 selves. That’s for the next six months to decide. They’re undoubtedly different, though, and they’re starting to show exactly how.