It only takes one glance at the numbers to see that Toronto Blue Jays prospects Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette are accomplishing some special things at the minor-league level.
The 18-year-old Guerrero Jr. ranks among the game’s best prospects with a .310/.414/.455 batting line and more walks than strikeouts for the Blue Jays’ Lansing and Dunedin affiliates. Bichette, 19, has 39 doubles and a .374/.434/.571 batting line for the same two teams.
Even beyond the numbers, the top prospects have an advanced feel for hitting, Dunedin Blue Jays manager John Schneider told At the Letters Wednesday.
“It’s like talking to a 30-year-old when you talk to Bo about hitting,” Schneider told Arden Zwelling and Ben Nicholson-Smith. “Vladdy too.”
With 60 walks compared to 49 strikeouts, Guerrero has an exceptional sense of what opposing hitters are trying to accomplish against him.
“He’s so aware of what’s going on in the game for an 18-year-old kid,” Schneider said. “Sometimes there’s a little bit of a language barrier, but he’ll come up to me and just say ‘man, they’re throwing me all breaking balls, I’m going to sit on one.’ Or ‘they haven’t thrown me anything away to get my arms extended, I’m going to cheat inside.’ These are things this kid’s saying and it’s like ‘wow.’”
Both players have considerable development ahead before the major-leagues are in reach, but they’re already attracting more than their share of attention from opposing teams and fans alike.
“Without a doubt. You talk to other staff during BP when you get into a new city and the first two names that come up are Bo and Vladdy,” Schneider said. “There’s fans waiting for the bus when we get to the stadium, waiting for the guys. It’s pretty fun to watch.”
[relatedlinks]
