Vladimir first Dominican with 40 homeruns

He becomes the first Quintana Roo native to reach the figure since Nelson Cruz did it in 2019 and the youngest Blue Jays player to do so in franchise history
Dominican Vladimir Guerrero Jr. on Monday became the third Major Leaguer to reach 40 homers on the season, joining Shohei Ohtani and Salvador Perez.

Guerrero’s hit was a solo homer in the first inning of the game against the New York Yankees, just after teammate Marcus Semien also hit the ball out of the park.

At the age of 22 years and 174 days, the Dominican became the youngest player in the history of the Blue Jays to reach that milestone.

Vladdy Jr. is also the first Dominican to hit 40 homers in a season since Nelson Cruz did it in 2019 with the Minnesota Twins. The 2020 season was cut by Covid-19 and the Dominican with the most home runs was Marcell Ozuna with 18.

Along with his father Vladimir Guerrero, he manages to form the first Latino father-son duo to have at least one 40-homer season each, and second overall behind Cecil and Prince Fielder.

On the season, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is batting .318 with 98 RBIs, a .406 OBP and .598 slugging, placing him among the American League’s top candidates for Most Valuable Player.