The Blue Jays were already dealing with a rough stretch when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. scratched himself from the lineup against the Mets on June 30. Now they’ve got bigger news: Guerrero is officially out of the All-Star Game.
He earned enough fan votes to make the team despite a down year at the plate. But on Saturday, he became the first player this season to back out of the midsummer classic. The reason? His back needs a break.
USA Today’s Bob Nightengale broke the news on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. “Vladimir Guerrero becomes the first player to back out of the All Star Game, saying he needs to recuperate his back during the break,” Nightengale wrote.
Guerrero tried to come back three days ago against the Mets. He got back in the lineup — partly because George Springer was out on paternity leave — but it didn’t stick. The back issue has been nagging him, and the team clearly didn’t want to push it.
This is the same guy who had made five straight All-Star appearances before this season. He’s hitting .268 this year, down from .292 in 2025 and way off his career-best .323 from two years ago. The numbers aren’t terrible, but they’re not Vladdy at his best.
Toronto had a rough Fourth of July, too. Playing south of the Canadian border on America’s birthday, the Blue Jays got pounded 11-0 by the Seattle Mariners at T-Mobile Park. It was a rematch of last year’s ALCS, and Seattle came out swinging.
Randy Arozarena launched an early grand slam to make it 5-0 before Toronto even settled in. He finished with three hits and four RBIs. Dominic Canzone and Colt Emerson each added two hits. Cal Raleigh and J.P. Crawford both went deep. Guerrero went 0-for-3. Yohendrick Pinango had the only hit for the Blue Jays.
So now the All-Star break comes at a good time for Guerrero. He’ll use it to rest his back instead of playing in the game. Whether that’s enough to get him back to form in the second half remains to be seen.
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