As need for offence grows, Guerrero’s readiness at third gives Blue Jays more options

TORONTO — Vladimir Guerrero Jr. takes groundballs at third base regularly during the off-season and while it’s also a normal part of his pre-game work in-season, he began doing so more intently over the past couple of weeks.

“You have to be prepared to play defence. Be ready no matter where you play,” the Toronto Blue Jays first baseman explained. “I have to do it just in case of a day like today.”

Today was Sunday and the case was his first big-league start at third base since Sept. 27, 2019. The Blue Jays moved the three-time all-star across the diamond during training camp ahead of the 2020 pandemic season and he’s played the hot corner just twice since, covering two innings in 2021 and two innings in 2022. 

He found out about the start on his way out of the clubhouse after Saturday’s 8-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates and replied to the news with this: “I’m ready. I’m ready for everything.” 

Guerrero then went out and showed precisely that in a 5-4 win over the Pirates, delivering an RBI single and scoring during a three-run fifth and a couple clean defensive plays on the hot corner, meeting the return to the left side with a strong no-big-deal vibe.

“Not really,” he said when asked if he was excited to play third again. “If they need me over there I’m going to play over there. It’s not something like I went to tell them, ‘I want to, I want to, I want to.’ I take my groundballs to be ready knowing one day, the day is going to come. Today is the day. Let’s play.”

Manager John Schneider stressed that “it’s not a position change by any means, it just offers some flexibility,” and suggested he might use Guerrero there a couple times every week or 10 days, or so. That helped quantify the vision expressed by GM Ross Atkins on MLB Network Radio, when he said Guerrero “will get some starts there,” in a bid to “deploy a lineup that maybe creates a little more offence.” 

Creating more offence has been a season-long pursuit for the Blue Jays, of course, and pushing the 2022 Gold Glove winner at first base back over underlines the current sense of urgency for the 28-30 club heading into a four-game series with the Baltimore Orioles.

They began taking some more dramatic steps that reflected the urgency last week with the option of struggling set-up man Erik Swanson to triple-A Buffalo. 

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While this isn’t nearly as unexpected, it does cross a line they’d long resisted, even though Guerrero at third gives them far more options to lengthen the batting order. 

With first base freed up Sunday, Justin Turner played in the field opening the DH spot for Daniel Vogelbach, who’s had strong at-bats of late and delivered a decisive two-run double in the fifth. 

Should Guerrero end up getting more regular work at third, the Blue Jays could be even more aggressive with the roster, as Bisons first baseman Spencer Horwitz is deserving of an opportunity but has been largely blocked from getting one.

Asked if the offensive performance of others could lead to Guerrero playing third more regularly than currently envisioned, Schneider answered with a non-committal, “we’ll see,” adding “it’s about doing what’s right for the team and everyone, you’ve got to combine the two.”

“It’s not a position change for Vlad,” he repeated. “The things that he can do offers us some flexibility. And every starter we face is going to be different. If we like Vogey instead of JT, or JT instead of Vogey or a catcher DHing, or getting someone off their feet to DH, it’ll be kind of fluid. But not ignoring what Vogey’s been doing and what he’s done over the course of his career against certain righties.”

Fair enough, although the Blue Jays are pushing towards more drastic measures for drastic times. Though they went 5-1 versus the Chicago White Sox and Pirates, the Blue Jays suffered two major blows last week when Alek Manoah (elbow sprain) and Jordan Romano (elbow inflammation) both hit the injured list. 

Their absences will surely impact the club’s ability to prevent runs — the Blue Jays are still deciding on a starter for Tuesday, said Schneider, while the bullpen’s pecking order for leverage innings is in flux without Romano — extending the need for more offence as a counter.

So, if the Blue Jays did want to make this a regular alignment, Guerrero is willing.

“Yeah,” he said. “If they need me for a long time at third, I’m going to be at third. If they don’t need me for a long time, I’m going to be at first again. Right now I feel good. If they need me catching, I don’t know if I can do that, but I’ll do everything for my team.”

Playing some third should more than suffice and he didn’t look out of place during his eight innings there, before switching back to first for the ninth, with Isiah Kiner-Falefa taking over at third.

In the seventh, Guerrero cleanly fielded a Nick Gonzales grounder to his right and threw a dart across the diamond for the out while in the eighth, he made a nice play to his left on a Yasmani Grandal grounder up the middle from the shortstop position, in a defensive shift.

“It’s not an unfamiliar position for him, we haven’t really utilized it, with (Matt) Chapman obviously here (the past two years), we didn’t have to,” said starter Chris Bassitt, who allowed three runs over five innings. “We saw today Vladdy’s more than capable of playing third base. He’s very athletic. He’s very good. He’s got a very good arm. It looks weird just because he hasn’t played it in a while, but it’s not foreign.”

That’s the attitude Guerrero, took, too, saying simply, “for me, it’s the same baseball.”

Maybe it’s been a while, but he’s always told Schneider that he can handle third if ever needed, and that ever needed is here now.

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