BOSTON -- Is that Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s music?
Finally, after a month stuck in the yard, Guerrero launched his fourth home run of the season, a Statcast-projected 410-foot rocket over the Green Monster at Fenway Park.
Sure, it just snuck over the Monster with the wind blowing out to left, but those pesky details don’t matter right now. This is the moment the Blue Jays have been waiting for, any sign of life from the one man in this lineup with the power to completely change the trajectory of this season. It was Guerrero’s first home run since May 17, a stunning start to his 2026 season that’s stretched on too long.
Coming into Thursday’s finale in Boston, Guerrero was batting .280 with three home runs and a .730 OPS, terribly pedestrian numbers for a hitter we all know is capable of greatness. This has all come in the shadow of the Blue Jays’ run to Game 7 of the 2025 World Series, too, making it so much more frustrating. In last year’s postseason, Guerrero might have been the best player on the planet for a month, batting .397 with eight home runs and a 1.289 OPS over 18 games. Where has that version of Vladdy gone?
Finally, the Blue Jays have another glimpse of it. The past few weeks and months have looked completely unlike Guerrero, too many balls beaten into the ground and too many empty swings at breaking balls dancing away from him. His confidence has never wavered, though. Early last week, Guerrero insisted that he was close. He felt the pieces coming together, even if we couldn’t see it just yet.
“I always tell the guys, 'Don’t worry about me,'” Guerrero said. “I’m going to be good. When I get hot, I’ll get hot.”
Fenway Park has been kind to Vladdy, too, even gifting him a pair of good-luck hits in Wednesday’s 3-0 win over the Red Sox. The home run pulled him to a career .347 (75-for-216) average at Fenway Park, with 12 HR and 49 RBIs, and it’s always felt like a division rival would be the team to drag this out of Guerrero, who craves these rivalries.
Manager John Schneider hasn’t budged, either. He knows Guerrero’s game as well as anyone, and day after day, he’s had to answer the same questions about his struggling superstar. It’s the same answer every time, Schneider insisting that it will just take one game, one swing, one moment for Guerrero to suddenly wake up.
That’s all this team is missing right now. Sure, the bullpen is overworked, injuries are still a problem and the No. 5 spot in the rotation could be a squeaky wheel, but all of those problems become so much smaller if Guerrero launches his 2026 renaissance. He’s the one man who can change everything, and whenever that time comes, it will start with one swing.