Breaking down Vladimir Guerrero Jr.'s MLB debut

TORONTO — The Toronto Blue Jays have played two Friday night games this season with an average attendance of 17,960.

Their third brought 28,688 to Rogers Centre.

By and large, those fans were not concerned with a battle between two 25-man rosters (which the Blue Jays won 4-2 over the Athletics for what it’s worth) so much as Vladdy Day — a holiday in celebration of one thick man.

“I can’t tell you how excited I was when I heard he was getting called up on Friday,” said Marcus Stroman, who pitched seven scoreless innings. “I knew the buzz that was going to be in the building and how many people were going to be here.”

Whenever Vladimir Guerrero Jr. touched the ball on defence, including fielding a foul ball, there were raucous cheers. Whenever he came to the plate, Rogers Centre erupted with “Vladdy!” chants.

“I was concentrating on every at-bat and just trying to do my job,” he said. “But it was exciting.”

Blue Jays manager Charlie Montoyo hadn’t seen anything like the atmosphere in the building when Guerrero Jr. came to the plate.

“I went to talk to David Rackley the umpire and I said ‘that’s probably the first time ever you’re getting booed when you call a strike in the second inning.’ He started laughing,” the skipper said. “It’s awesome to watch. I was nervous at the beginning, but when he got relaxed I got relaxed and it was fun for me to watch how the fans embraced Vladdy.”

All eyes were on Guerrero Jr. at almost all times, even when he was simply standing at third base. Vladdy was the headliner and every other Blue Jay was one in a too-long line of openers.

Even Stroman and Brandon Drury, who hit a walk-off home run, felt like secondary players. They certainly weren’t at the centre of the post-game celebrations.

So, how did the best prospect in the sport fare under the gleaming spotlight? In the simplest terms, rather well, as he went 1-for-4 with a double and made a nice play in the field.

Here’s a closer look at the first of many Vladimir Guerrero Jr. performances:

First at-bat

Situation: Bases empty, no outs

Outcome: Groundout to first base

Exit Velocity: 106.8 mph

Expected Batting Average: .260

Pitching chart:

Story of the at-bat: Fiers threw Guerrero Jr. exclusively fastballs which seemed like a pretty odd plan of attack considering his underwhelming heater. Vladdy took the first one for a ball.

On the second pitch, he got the fans revved up with an absolutely monster cut:

That may have been the best pitch to hit in the at-bat. From there he took a pitch well outside for a strike that put him behind and changed the nature of this duel.

Ultimately, Vladdy grounded out sharply first. If he had any nerves about his first time in a big-league batter’s box they didn’t show. He swung for the right pitches, took the right pitches, and hit the ball hard — just right at Kendrys Morales.

Second at-bat

Situation: Bases empty, no outs

Outcome: Flyout to left field

Exit Velocity: 89.6

Expected Batting Average: .080

Pitching chart:

Story of the at-bat: After feeding him exclusively fastballs the first time around, Fiers gave him a diet of offspeed pitches. The right-hander deserves credit for hugging the corners, but once again Guerrero Jr. took the right pitches, including a slider on the corner for a strike he couldn’t have done anything with.

The only mistake you could say Vladdy made here was swinging on a 3-1 changeup out of the zone, that he didn’t quite get a hold of.

It’s worth noting that when this guy doesn’t quite get a hold of something it looks like this:

It seems like Vladdy was gearing up for the fastball in a 3-1 count and couldn’t quite make the adjustment. The camera man was more fooled than he was, though.

Athletics left fielder Chad Pinder was booed mercilessly for the remainder of the game for taking the hit away. Guerrero Jr. didn’t have the same vitriol for him.

“I’m trying to do my job and he’s trying to do his job,” he said. “It is what it is.”

Third at-bat

Situation: Bases empty, two outs

Outcome: Flyout to right field

Exit Velocity: 99.8 mph

Expected Batting Average: .410

Pitching chart:

Story of the at-bat: Guerrero Jr. took a curveball that got away from Fiers then reached for a cutter just outside. The cutter was an inspired choice by Athletics catcher Josh Phegley as Vladdy hadn’t seen it yet in the previous 11 pitches Fiers had thrown him. The young slugger got it off the end of the bat, but still managed to muscle it to deep right field.

Fourth at-bat

Situation: Bases empty, no outs

Outcome: Opposite-field double

Exit Velocity: 96.1 mph

Expected Batting Average: .160

Pitching chart:

Story of the at-bat: Once again, Guerrero Jr. got a lot of fastballs, and Yusmeiro Petit opted to work the outside corner. He got a tough call on the third pitch which put him in a mode where he was defending the plate — but that worked out rather well for him as he went with an outside fastball and pushed it down the line:

“People don’t understand how good a hitter he is,” Stroman said. “For him to hit that pitch inside the line, down in the count after being exposed early in the count on a fastball that was off the plate and him having the savvy to know the ump is calling that pitch and get to it — he’s way ahead of his years.”

Defence

Guerrero Jr. made his most significant play on the defensive side of the ball in the fourth inning on a groundball off the bat of Steven Piscotty.

Nothing here is truly outstanding, but Vladdy gets credit for coming in on the ball aggressively, taking it off a short hop and making a strong throw. Those are all things you like to see from a third baseman.

“That was an unbelievably short hop that he had today,” Stroman said. “And he showed off that cannon.”

Another notable time his number was called in the field came on a sharp grounder off the bat of “Laser” Ramon Laureano that he made a valiant diving attempt on but couldn’t quite reel in.

Conclusion

Obviously it would have been nice for the Blue Jays and the fans to see something truly spectacular from Guerrero, which didn’t come to pass, but a dramatic ninth-inning double ain’t chopped liver.

Perhaps more importantly, the 20-year-old didn’t look like the bright lights bothered him. His defence wasn’t an issue, his at-bats were generally good, and his contact was loud.

“He was comfortable and that’s how he plays,” Montoyo said. “Actually I was more nervous than he was to tell you the truth. I can’t imagine having all that pressure and all this press and stuff and he is who he is. He was comfortable and relaxed and he enjoyed the game.”

True Vladdy magic will have to wait at least another day, but he and the Blue Jays can definitely be happy with what they saw on Friday.

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