TORONTO -- Typically, sound travels in a wave, a disturbance in a medium made up of the vibrations of particles carrying energy from one point to another without direct contact between the two points.

When Vladimir Guerrero Jr. finds a pitch with the barrel of his bat, it makes a sound like no other, similarly carrying the immeasurable amount of energy behind his swing through the ball, and occasionally right into the stands.

Home Run Derby: Monday July 8, 8 p.m. ET on Sportsnet

Ahead of the Blue Jays’ series opener against the Red Sox on Tuesday, Guerrero’s bat made that sound over and over again, as the 20-year-old slugger took an early round of batting practice in Home Run Derby-like conditions in anticipation of Monday’s event.

Team interpreter Hector Lebron timed the anticipatory round and tracked when each ball landed before another pitch could be thrown. The cage was removed from home plate, a catcher was behind the dish and Toronto’s Major League coach John Schneider got his own practice in throwing to Guerrero before the two team up again at the Derby.

“Practice was fun,” Schneider said. “It’s good for him to get used to it a little bit, the format and everything. It’s good for us to talk about the rules and timing and things like that, so it was fun. The whole thing will be fun for him. It’s fun for me because I’m a coach, I’m lucky enough that he asked me, but it was cool today. It’s kind of a friendly reminder of how good he is.”

Schneider joined Toronto’s big league coaching staff during the offseason after managing Guerrero and the Double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats last year. He was also the rookie phenom’s skipper in 2017 with the Class A Advanced Dunedin Blue Jays. Both teams finished those seasons with championships in their respective leagues.

The 39-year-old coach remembers his first impression of a young Guerrero was an awe-inspiring “Wow,” but the jaw dropping continued the more Schneider got to know him.

“He was 16, so it was like OK, he’s a kid,” Schneider said. “He’s only 20 now, but you look at him and you look at the way he hits and you look at the way he handles himself in the box and on the field and you go OK, this kid’s advanced for his age, being around the game forever.

“But the biggest thing was how hard he hit the ball when we looked at him coming up, and then really getting to see him every day in 2017 you go, OK, I get it. He’s a really, really talented kid and a really, really special dude, the person he is, so it’s been fun hanging around him for the past couple years.”

Guerrero has spent less time on teams without Schneider on the coaching staff than he has with him. That familiarity not only led to his choice to have the Princeton, N.J.-born coach with him in Cleveland during the Derby, but it has also given Schneider a chance to see the evolution of the hitter throughout his young career as he continues to impress.

“You see the natural progression of the player and understanding how the game is being played and the speed of it and what pitchers are trying to do,” he said. “But his instincts have always been really good, both in the box and on the bases really too. I know he’s not a burner, but on the bases he’s very smart.

“At third base, understanding the game. You look at that and people tend to forget that third base is still relatively new for him, even though he’s done it in the Minors, but he’s learning every day with that and watching him work at that every day’s been nice.”

Schneider believes there have been plenty of points of progress for the Derby’s youngest participant, but the most impressive included his ability to make adjustments in the Eastern League -- which he believes the third baseman will do again -- and the evolution of his power.

“He’s going through it right now where people are pitching him differently here than they did in the Minor Leagues,” Schneider said. “Watching him make adjustments is the biggest thing you look at for a young player. Watching him do it pitch by pitch and at-bat by at-bat last year was a different level than what you’re used to seeing in the Minor Leagues.

“When I think about him, I think about how hard he hits the ball really too, and that’s gone up every year as he gets older and he gets stronger. That, and watching the hard-hit balls turn into home runs last year was cool.”

After their round of Home Run Derby practice on Tuesday, Guerrero is certainly Schneider’s favourite to come out on top.

“His chances are as good as anybody,” he said. “It’s the best of the best. It’s great that he’s in it. It’s great for the game, it’s great for him, it’s great for the team to have that attention for that night. It’s cool. But I’d put him up against anybody. I like his chances.”