Anticipation builds for Guerrero’s imminent arrival at Jays camp

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DUNEDIN, Fla. — Blue Jays position players aren’t due to report here for full-on spring training duty until Monday, though that hasn’t stopped many keeners from getting to the player development complex for an early start.

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New guy Justin Turner rolled in a couple of days ago, Bo Bichette has been here for weeks while George Springer, Daulton Varsho, Cavan Biggio, Kevin Kiermaier and others are all getting their early work in.

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There is one notable absence, however, which only makes the buzz attached to Vlad Guerrero Jr.’s seemingly impressive off-season workouts that much more enticing.

Guerrero has been working out with personal trainer Nicole Gabriel for much of the winter, and by the looks of images and videos posted to her Instagram account, the results are impressive.

Of course that sounds like a familiar off-season refrain for the player long believed to have the most potential from this talented group of Jays players. Yes, the subject of Guerrero’s fitness has been a hot topic for the 24-year-old slugger, but an area where he has once again publicly committed to improve. Over time, some of the criticism has been justified, but some of it is over the top as he has worked through some struggles in his young career.

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Working with Gabriel was a change of pace for Guerrero. He spent much of the winter at the Jays headquarters but also stepped it up at the personal trainer’s Tampa facility.

“First one to start last one to leave,” Gabriel wrote of Guerrero on her Nicole Gabriel Training account. “I am so proud of you. Thank you so much for trusting in me this off-season.

“This is YOUR year. Time to let it all show.”

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That’s a mindset Guerrero seemingly has adopted himself, the results of which will begin to reveal themselves next week. Manager John Schneider has visited Guerrero at his area home here and is predicting the odd head will turn when he reports for team medicals when they see the results of what might have been his most ambitious off-season to date.

“I think there will be some impressed eyes in camp,” Schneider said. “He’s in a good spot. I know the work he’s done. (Hitting coach Guillermo Martinez) was over to see him hit the other day and said he looks really, really good.

“To his credit, he was very deliberate with the off-season. He spent the majority of it here and not in the (Dominican Republic) except for special occasions. He just simplified everything. It’s like the theme around here. The guys know we need to get better and they took ownership of it.”

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Working with Gabriel has seemingly elevated the routine with results readily apparent in the workout images posted of late. According to her bio, Gabriel has an extensive track record of working with elite athletes and “helping them achieve their optimum performance.” Her big-name baseball clients include Randy Arozarena, Yordan Alvarez and Jorge Polanco, testament to the reputation and trust she’s earned around the sport.

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Looking at pictures and videos of those workouts, it’s evident that Guerrero is seriously getting after it. Sure, we’ve seen impressive videos of the 24-year-old in previous winters, but could this year be different? His teammates believe so.

One Jays player told me this week that he’s familiar with the work of Gabriel and that it’s clear that Guerrero his responded to her methods. And Bichette, the Jays player who perhaps knows him best, believes Guerrero is living up to his own expectations.

“I think he’s motivated and I think he’s working hard,” Bichette said on Saturday. “We’ve talked about. I think everybody should expect he would be motivated. He wants to be (the player) he knows he is.”

We’ll hear more from Guerrero next week, but the little he’s said this off-season are in line with the observations shared by Bichette and Schneider.

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“One of the things that mostly got in my way last year was health,” Guerrero told ESPN last month. “But I’ve learned a lot about that, about how to take care of my body a lot more. I’ve said this since last year — the is my season and this is when people are going to know about me. It’s going to be either ‘Vlad Jr. is back’ or ‘Vlad Jr. stayed behind.’”

From his days managing Guerrero in the minor leagues to his current role, Schneider has seen him evolve from a talented teenager to the player he is today. Seeing Guerrero driven to get in the shape required to unleash his best has heightened the interest in what awaits.

“It always comes down to the player,” Schneider said. “This is their livelihood. This is their job. Vlad and others have taken it upon themselves.

“He’s in a good spot — 2021 was pretty close (in terms of fitness) and it worked out pretty well for him that year.”

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