Vladdy Report: New lineup spot helps spark bat

When Charlie Montoyo promoted Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to the second spot in the lineup on Friday it was worth wondering if the Blue Jays manager was putting the cart before the horse.

The rookie was carrying a .162/.244/.189 line and pushing him down a couple spots wouldn’t have raised many eyebrows.

“He’s had some good at-bats,” Montoyo said of the move at the time. “He hasn’t gotten any hits, but he’s having good at-bats. I like the idea of him getting into the action quickly.”

That change didn’t pay immediate dividends as Guerrero Jr. went 0-for-4 in his first game in the two hole, but on Saturday he had his best MLB game and Sunday he went 1-for-4, hitting an opposite-field double and looking solid in his other at-bats.

As long as those good at-bats keep coming, the results will follow, something Vladdy understands well.

“I’m just taking it step by step,” he said through an interpreter. “Everything is going well so far, so I’m just going to keep working hard.”

They’re already starting to, and after a weekend where he was on base five times in two games he looks on the verge of taking off.

“He’s fine at the plate. He’s locked in right now,” Montoyo said after Sunday’s game. “He’s seeing the pitches pretty good.”

Here’s how the 20-year-old fared last week:

The line: 4-for-17 with 2 walks and 4 strikeouts

Best at-bat: Single vs. Ivan Nova on Saturday.

It’s hard to argue with the hardest-hit ball by a Blue Jay since Statcast has been recording exit velocity. Vladdy identified a first-pitch offering he could hit and tore the cover off it.

Worst at-bat: Flyout vs. Jose Berrios on Tuesday

Although Vladdy struck out four times during the week, three of them were called strikeouts and each call was borderline. In theory, you don’t want to put yourself at the umpire’s mercy on close two-strike pitches, but it’s hard to fault a guy for trusting his eye — especially when he’s right.

What made this particular at-bat tough is the missed opportunity. Guerrero Jr. fell behind, but Berrios gifted him as fastball right down the pipe and Vladdy couldn’t capitalize.

True meatballs, especially from good pitchers, are hard to come by and a lazy 74.5 mph flyball just isn’t a good enough outcome when you get one.

How they pitched him:

Guerrero Jr. dealt with a major shift in how pitchers handled him this week. After seeing almost exclusively fastballs and breaking balls in the early going, he got his first taste of a changeup-heavy diet.

In his first week and a half Vladdy saw that pitch only seven times, then in a span of five games he was thrown 20 of them. Martin Perez made him look a little uncomfortable with it on Monday, but overall it wasn’t an issue.

Southpaws will probably look to work Guerrero Jr. with changeups in an effort to avoid throwing pitches breaking into him, but if offspeed pitches were a major problem for Vladdy it would have shown up by now.

Defence and base running: Early in the week, things were pretty quiet on this front for Vladdy. He wasn’t getting on base much, and the plays he was asked to make in the field tended to be routine.

Things got a lot more eventful on Saturday. Early on, he showed off his arm with a strike from foul territory to erase Jose Abreu.

He robbed Abreu again the next day, although the White Sox first baseman’s square wheels definitely played a role in the outcome.

The 20-year-old rarely looks graceful at third base, but these plays serve as a reminder of his raw strength and how it can translate in baseball terms beyond just his ungodly power at the plate.

Unfortunately for Vladdy, those defensive highlights came with a couple of base running lowlights. The first — technically a failed stolen base attempt — was not his fault in the slightest. It was a hit-and-run attempt with Justin Smoak at the dish that went awry.

His second out on the bases belonged to him alone, though. Guerrero Jr. got far too ambitious with third base seemingly open on a Smoak groundout.

Vladdy brings below-average wheels to the base paths, and will likely only get slower with time. That means if he’s going to be an effective base runner he’s going to have to be smarter than average out there. He certainly wasn’t on Saturday.

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