Vlad Guerrero Jr. got a rude welcome to the Majors as Chad Pinder robbed him of extra bases with a leap

By Adrian Garro @adriangarro

April 26, 2019

The eyes of the baseball world focused on Rogers Centre in Toronto on Friday night, as Vlad Guerrero Jr. made his highly-anticipated debut with the Blue Jays. The A's were in town to play the villains, hopeful of denying Vladito of a breakout first game in the Majors.

Guerrero grounded out in his first at-bat against Mike Fiers, but baseball's top prospect put a great swing on an inside pitch from Fiers his next time to the plate. The ball shot deep toward the left-field corner, the crowd noise swelled, broadcasters' voices heightened in pitch. Had Guerrero crushed a homer? Did he smack one off the wall for extra bases?

Nope. There was Chad Pinder, leaping into the air and robbing Vladito of a sure extra-base hit (that was nearly a dinger in its own right):

Chad Pinder AKA Mr. Play Anywhere AKA Mr. Steal The Spotlight#RootedInOakland pic.twitter.com/SqK5cWeyq9

— Oakland Eh's (@Athletics) April 27, 2019

That's just cold, Chad. Ice cold.

Welcome to the bigs, Vladito! Nothing comes easy here.

Blocked and reported for clickbait.

— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) April 27, 2019

Up in a suite, proud dad Vlad Sr. was totally caught up in the moment of nearly watching his son hit his first homer:

Vlad Guerrero watching his son just miss a homer is such a great Dad moment. @ExposNation pic.twitter.com/YJGJhLkXpb

— Annakin Slayd (@AnnakinSlayd) April 27, 2019