Silva: Vladdy Jr. has fully arrived to the Show
Drew Silva breaks down Toronto Blue Jays 1B Vladimir Guerrero Jr.'s evolution from a top prospect to being one of the best players in MLB at only 22 years old.
Video Transcript
DREW SILVA: If not for the truly unprecedented two-way brilliance of Shohei Ohtani, Blue Jays first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. would be the runaway favorite right now to win the 2021 American League MVP award. Vlad Junior did already take home one kind of MVP award this year, winning the honor in the All-Star game for his 468-foot home run and run-scoring RBI ground out in the AL's 5-2 defeat of the National League.
He became the youngest player ever to win All-Star Game MVP, passing Ken Griffey Jr. Over the first half of the 2021 regular season, Guerrero Junior put up an AL best .332 batting average and .1089 OPS to go along with 28 home runs and an American League leading RBI total of 73 in 87 games played.
He got in tremendous physical shape over the winter, and made the changes at the plate that were necessary to spur the shift from high-level prospect to high-level Major League slugger. Most notably, Vlad Junior greatly improved his launch ankle. While maintaining elite batted ball readings and exit velocity and barrel rate, he has fully arrived here at age 22.