TORONTO -- Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was a late scratch from Tuesday night’s 3-0 loss against the Mets with back tightness, the club announced an hour and a half prior to first pitch.
Guerrero was originally listed in the starting lineup, playing first base and batting third, but rookie Sean Keys slid across the diamond to cover first for the night. Continuing the shuffle, Ernie Clement slid from second to third while Luis Urías entered the lineup, playing third. Kazuma Okamoto, on his 30th birthday, got a scheduled day off.
Guerrero has dealt with this nagging back issue over the past month, and while it hasn’t forced him to miss any significant time to date, it’s clearly bothered him on the field at times, particularly following some big swings.
“I don’t want to push it with him,” John Schneider said. “He’s been working a lot and I think that plays into how he’s feeling. He’s taken a lot of swings over the last week or week and a half. With where he was yesterday and making progress, albeit with just the single to right, I think he’s where we want him to be. He’s really close, so I didn’t want to set him back.”
The timing is never good for these things, but it’s especially tough right now for Guerrero, who is trying to dig himself out of a long, puzzling slump to open the season. Guerrero has homered just four times and carries a .695 OPS, baffling numbers for such a gifted hitter who had just treated us to such an incredible show throughout the Blue Jays’ World Series run in 2025.
Guerrero’s only base hit in Monday’s series-opening win over the Mets came on a ground ball slapped the other way, but he’d hit two balls very hard for outs earlier in the game (111.1 and 107.1 mph). Those swings looked much more like Guerrero at his best, his hips finally exploding through the ball as he tapped into the natural power his lower body generates. It was an encouraging sign, but now the wait continues.
“Talking to him, he didn’t want to miss tomorrow, either,” Schneider said. “I think he’ll be OK tomorrow. He got treatment and got some rest. I told him that today was a day he wasn’t going to play unless someone got hurt and we needed him. I think all signs point to positive after today and hopefully he’s good tomorrow.”
Missed games are a rarity for Guerrero, who has never sat more than six games in a full season. This is five already for Guerrero, who hopes to be back in the lineup for the early start at 3:07 p.m. ET on Canada Day.