Vladimir Guerrero Jr. did something Thursday night he hadn’t done since mid-May. He hit a baseball over the fence. And the Toronto Blue Jays manager was ready with the needle.
The solo shot came off a 92 mph sinker from Boston’s pitching on the first pitch of the at-bat. Guerrero sent it over Fenway Park’s famous Green Monster, and then the real action started. The Blue Jays dugout does this thing where they make the homer hitter put on a customized home run jacket after going deep. Schneider watched Guerrero jog his victory laps and then muttered something as the slugger grabbed the jacket.
“It still fits,” the manager said, loud enough for cameras to catch.
It was clearly a joke. Guerrero had gone 30 days and 98 plate appearances without a home run. The last time he hit one was May 17. So yeah, the jacket had been collecting dust.
A rough stretch for a former MVP candidate
This hasn’t been the Vlad Jr. season anybody expected. The 2025 AL champion and perennial All-Star has battled injuries all year, most recently back tightness that forced him out of the lineup before a series against the Yankees. Schneider even dropped him in the batting order on June 9, moving him from the cleanup spot down to second. That move looked like a message at the time.
Guerrero entered Thursday’s game hitting .280 with just two home runs. For a guy who hit 48 homers in 2021 and was supposed to be a consistent 35-plus threat, that’s a massive dip. His average has hovered under .300 for weeks, and the power outage felt like more than just a slump. It looked like the back issues might be lingering.
The homer Thursday changes the narrative for at least a day. It was a no-doubter, too. Guerrero didn’t just scrape one over the wall. He crushed it.
What this means for a team trying to stay alive
The Blue Jays are 37-38. That’s below .500 in a division that includes the Yankees and Orioles. They need Guerrero to be Guerrero if they want to make any kind of run. One home run doesn’t fix everything, but it’s a start. The dugout energy after the jacket moment was loose, and that matters for a team that’s been grinding through a mediocre stretch.
Schneider’s joke landed because everybody knew it was true. The jacket still fit. But the question is whether Guerrero keeps wearing it regularly or if it goes back in storage for another month. The Blue Jays don’t have time to wait much longer.
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