TORONTO -- Say hello to Playoff Vladdy. He was worth the wait.
In his very first at-bat of the American League Division Series against the Yankees, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. launched his first career postseason home run, a towering shot to left field that took its time falling into the Blue Jays’ bullpen while Guerrero rounded the bases. What a moment for the face of the franchise.
The Blue Jays’ 10-1 win, this organization’s first postseason win since Game 4 of the 2016 ALCS, immediately tilts the ALDS in their favor. It’s the first postseason win of Guerrero’s career, too, and while he’s still planning on 10 more of these to bring a World Series trophy back to Canada, Saturday at Rogers Centre was a fine start and a major statement.
In postseason history, teams that win Game 1 in any best-of-five series have gone on to win the series 113 of 156 times (72.4%). In Division Series with the current 2-2-1 format, teams that win Game 1 at home have advanced 40 of 54 times (74.1%).
Vladdy hadn’t homered since Sept. 5, either, and following that, he’d posted just a .592 OPS down the stretch while the Blue Jays flirted with handing the AL East to the Yankees. If the Blue Jays are finally going to shift the balance in baseball’s powerhouse division, it needs to begin and end with Guerrero, the $500 million man who has been waiting for a swing like this on a stage like this.
“There was a little bit of a different feel about Vlad today,” said manager John Schneider, a bit of a smile sneaking out.
Schneider has known Guerrero since the low levels of the Minor Leagues. He’s thrown 100,000 pitches to him in batting practice over the years, rocking back and forth, pitch after pitch, watching one of the most gifted hitters on the planet pummel him. That’s why, as Schneider kept hinting in recent days that something was brewing with Guerrero, it wasn’t just coach speak. Schneider, long the Guerrero whisperer, had a feeling.
It all looked different, too. This was the most focused, determined version of Guerrero we’ve seen in 2025, perhaps in his career.
Minutes after launching his home run, he made an incredible defensive play, diving to grab a broken-bat flare before scampering back to his base to double off the runner. We saw the true greatness of Guerrero, though, in a pair of plays no one will be talking about tomorrow.
When Anthony Santander singled in the seventh to put runners at the corners, Guerrero bounced onto the field in celebration, then started beating those mighty fists atop the dugout railing while the entire Yankees’ dugout sat without an ounce of energy. Later in the frame, Guerrero found himself in a 3-0 count with a runner on third, and when he made contact on what was clearly an unthreatening fly ball, he fist-pumped his way out of the box, celebrating a job well done over the individual accolades.
This is Guerrero’s team. He’s always wanted to win, but this time, it looks like he needs to win.
“I just talked to myself like, ‘You know what, I'm just going to be myself,’” Guerrero explained through a club interpreter. “I'm just going to go out there, give all I have, and just enjoy the game.”
Guerrero started it all. Yes, Kevin Gausman’s excellent pitching performance carried the Blue Jays and yes, Alejandro Kirk’s two home runs were incredible moments, but Guerrero turned this into a game of Toronto Blue Jays baseball before the Yankees could even get comfortable.
“He genuinely loves being a Toronto Blue Jay,” said George Springer. “He loves to be here, loves the country, loves his family, loves the fans.”
By the time the stadium stopped shaking after the win, Guerrero had gone 3-for-4 with two RBIs and a handful of stellar defensive plays. Vladdy owns a 1-0 lead over Aaron Judge in the battle of stars and the Blue Jays have a 1-0 lead over the Yankees, the team Guerrero just loves to crush, even though he doesn’t want to feed that narrative right now.
“What a night for him, to hit a home run in the first and then have two other hits,” Gausman said. “He's the face of our franchise and a big reason why we go.”
Now, Guerrero just needs to do it again … and again … and again.
We’ve finally seen what it looks like, though. For all of Guerrero’s greatness, from being the No. 1 prospect in the sport to his near-MVP season in 2021, we’d never seen this version of Guerrero when it really mattered. It’s an incredible show, and when Vladdy’s hot, anything is possible.