Postseason Vladdy in March? Jays love to see their star thrive in Classic

DUNEDIN, Fla. -- The best things happening to the Blue Jays aren’t happening in Dunedin.

The World Baseball Classic is bringing out the biggest, brightest, loudest version of Vladimir Guerrero Jr., and it’s only the middle of March. One of baseball’s greatest showmen is starting early.

On Thursday, in an electrifying win over Venezuela, Guerrero turned on a solo home run and stood in the box until that ball cleared the wall, admiring his own art. His trot around the bases lasted 34.58 seconds, the longest of the WBC. Then, in Friday night’s 10-0 quarterfinal win over Korea, Vladdy dashed around the bases dove into the air and twisted his body around a tag at home to score the Dominican Republic’s first run.

When Vladdy is at his best, his game is a celebration of itself. There’s so much joy to it. Leading up to the WBC, John Schneider joked a few times that he hoped his players had great individual success, but lost early and got back to camp healthy. He’s changed his tune, though, and Schneider, like everyone else, sees a freight train of momentum building in his superstar.

“When I started thinking about the WBC and about the risk-reward of it, you want guys to be here and ramping up properly, but for certain guys like Vlad, [Alejandro] Kirk and [Andrés] Giménez, we know that they’re ready to go,” Schneider said. “So I think that being put into these kinds of high-stress environments is a good carry-over from the postseason to not let them get stale [instead of] getting two at-bats against Minor Leaguers on a split-squad day. It’s cool that they’re having these moments around other big-time players.”

These past few games in the WBC have looked like Postseason Vladdy, which is a dangerous man. Over 18 games in last year’s run to the World Series, Guerrero hit .397 with eight home runs and a 1.289 OPS. If the Blue Jays had won it all, this would be remembered as one of the great postseason performances in baseball history.

It wasn’t just the results, though; it’s how Vladdy looked.

“Before the Division Series, you could kind of see a different edge to him,” Schneider said. “He was just relaxed and a little bit more focused.”

That shouldn’t make sense, but it does. The more fun Guerrero has, the better he plays. The more he’s dancing, the more runs he’s driving in. The fancy stats have always loved Guerrero, but the eye test matters with him as much as any player in the big leagues.

This also brings us to the great riddle of Guerrero: What is the line between his good days and his great ones? Last regular season, Guerrero was simply good, and “good” isn’t what the Blue Jays are looking for. He hit 23 home runs with an .848 OPS and solid defense, but in October, he showed us all what he’s really capable of. The 2021 version of Guerrero, which almost won the MVP Award after launching 48 home runs, is still in there. Vladdy just needs to connect with that side of himself.

It’s starting to look like high stakes help. Every sense is heightened in the postseason -- or the WBC -- and the Blue Jays just keep seeing that drag out the best of Guerrero.

“Now, it’s about trying to bottle that up a little bit. How can you be that force for 162?”

What a difference a year makes. At this time in 2025, all we could talk about was Vladdy’s contract. That hung over the season like a storm cloud. His deadline -- which wasn’t really a deadline -- had passed and he wanted everyone to believe he would head into the season without an extension, then hit free agency.

All of those conversations pointed towards an uncertain future, but everything has changed.

“He understands how good he is and any player who signs that kind of deal exhales a little bit,” Schneider said. “I think everyone around you exhales a little bit. If he wasn’t as talented as he is, it might be a little bit of him trying to show people how good he is, but he knows he’s good. Going through what he’s gone through is going to pay off for him big-time this year.”

We typically only get glimpses of Guerrero in Spring Training. A home run here, a dash of speed between first and third there. The WBC is already teasing us with a spectacle, though, and if Vladdy can take that home with him, this summer could be special.