The fabulous rise of Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

A CERTAIN SIGN of true charisma is a multitude of nicknames. Along with the legendary name he inherited, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., the Toronto Blue Jays’ powerful first baseman also goes by the nicknames Vlad Jr, Vladdy and Vladito. However, the term “Plákata” also applies to him, which is more of a synonym for Guerrero than a nickname, in the same way that “Beast Mode” is used to describe Marshawn Lynch. “Plákata” is a colloquial, onomatopoeic word born in Caribbean baseball that serves to refer to the kind of contact with the barrel of the bat that typically results in a long home run. In other words, it is an adjective rather than a noun. But who cares? The word fits perfectly with Vladdy himself and what Vladdy does to baseballs: “Plákata.”

Not all defining sluggers of their respective generations make power swings in the same way. For every Pete Alonso with his short lumberjack axe; we have a Manny Ramirez, whose swing was loose and simple, as if he threw a fishing net. Meanwhile, Guerrero’s swing has a strange whiplash-like violence, not seen in the baseball world since the best days of Gary Sheffield, who had one of the two most terrifying swings in modern baseball; and the best days of Vlad Guerrero Sr, owner of the other. Their bats were immense, and they swung so hard that it seemed as if it was the bat that was shaking them. Vlad Jr.’s swing is a true reflection of his father’s: it’s the first thing everyone notices about him. His physical build is a far cry from that of his progenitor: that’s the second. Junior looks like a product of Father, having been wrapped in flour and baked for an hour.

Likewise, Vlad Jr. is blessed with preternatural plate discipline, which, needless to say, he did not inherit from his father. The most iconic hit of Padre’s career was a single against the Orioles in 2009, which would not have gone over so well if it were more normal. The pitch bounced in front of the plate; however, Padre took a swing and dispatched it to left field. Junior is much more selective. He has such a good look, and such a flawless swing path, that he ends up exposing the fundamental unfairness of the “vis a vis” matchup between pitching and hitting, which is that the ball has to go in front of him first. Vlad Jr. lost a tremendous amount of weight before the 2021 season. Currently, his wrists are extremely fast, to the point where there is no safe place to pitch to him. The best option is to go inside, overhand: really inside, really overhand, too risky for both. Pitch somewhere else, and Vlad Jr. will dispatch it by doing Plákata to the moon.

Guerrero is one of four offspring of baseball legends who are part of the Blue Jays’ indefatigable offensive lineup, along with shortstop and fellow All-Star Bo Bichette (son of Colorado Rockies slugger Dante); left fielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr. (son of Cuban league legend Lourdes Sr.), and shortstop Cavan Biggio (son of Hall of Famer and historic Houston Astros infielder Craig); and with the exception of Biggio, who has struggled at the plate thus far, all are maturing simultaneously. Mix them with center fielder George Springer, a free agent acquired by Toronto prior to the start of the season, who has spent the first half of the campaign injured and the second half destroying opposing pitchers; along with the best year of Steward Marcus Semien’s career (also arrived as a free agent) and the result is a historic offense that has been hiding in plain sight. The Blue Jays score runs as if it were a consequence of climate change: the hurricane winds are aberrant, a once-in-a-generation accumulation. They are a category 6 hurricane, leaving pitchers clinging to the pitching rubber like a piece of driftwood. During a single 24-hour period in early September, which included a three-game series against Baltimore (Saturday doubleheader and a Sunday afternoon game), the Blue Jays scored 44 runs. Over a four-inning span that weekend, they scored a major league-record 27 runs.

And at the center of it all is Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who matched his father’s best home run mark (44) last Sept. 12, and surpassed it the next day with his 45th. If the young Guerrero’s Statcast chart were a high school report card, he’d end up beaten in the cafeteria. Average exit velocity of his at-bats: within 99 percent. Hard-hit percentage: 98 percent. Weighted OBP expectation: 98. Expected slugging percentage: 98. Did you know that Guerrero Jr. could win the Triple Crown this season? It’s a very feasible possibility, with three weeks left in the regular season. In 2012, when Miguel Cabrera won the first Triple Crown in major baseball since 1967 (by the way, he did it when he was 29 years old), he naturally took home the Most Valuable Player of the Young Circuit award. That will not be the case for Vladdy. Even if he goes on to become just the second triple crowned in half a century, he is virtually assured of losing Most Valuable to Shohei Ohtani. However, this feels apt in some ways. All season long, Guerrero and the rest of the Toronto Blue Jays’ ball killers have been the best-kept secret in all of baseball. However, don’t be too hard on yourselves if the Canadian team has so far managed to evade their attention. The entire city of Toronto (come on, all of Canada) has had to miss most of their games because, thanks to COVID, while the rest of the ball world returned to some semblance of normal life, Vladdy and the Blue Jays were still stuck in a place where no one would ever think to look.