TORONTO – As the angst-filled wait for George Springer’s debut with the Toronto Blue Jays continues, an intriguing thought is imagining him in the same lineup as an ascendent Vladimir Guerrero Jr. right now.
The 22-year-old’s latest emergent performance featured a grand slam off Max Scherzer in the third, a solo shot in the fifth off one of this generation’s most dominant pitchers and a two-run jack off reliever Kyle Finnegan in the seventh. That made him the seventh-youngest player to go deep three times in a big-league game – Corey Seager beat him by five days – while his seven RBIs established a new career-high, for good measure.
It all added up to an impressive way to shake off a 1-for-13 weekend against the Tampa Bay Rays, powering a 9-5 victory Tuesday over the Washington Nationals.
“This is my (best) career game, no doubt,” Guerrero said through interpreter Hector Lebron, adding he’d never before hit three homers in one outing. “That makes it very special and the No. 1 game.”
Added manager Charlie Montoyo, in an on-point summation: “That, was a show.”
Springer’s return to action in alternate-training site games late last week raised hopes that a different sort of show would take place Tuesday. But plans to activate the star outfielder from the injured list were iced after he took batting practice and ran the bases in the afternoon, with Montoyo saying “he feels great except (for) the running.”
Understandably, caution ruled the day, although it sounds like Springer’s return is coming soon, perhaps even as early as Wednesday night.
In his absence, Guerrero, in particular, along with Bo Bichette and Randal Grichuk have done much of the heavy lifting at the plate for the Blue Jays. Dropping Springer into the mix should turbocharge an order that also features the awakening Cavan Biggio, who had three hits, and the yet-to-be-untracked Marcus Semien and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. Teoscar Hernandez’s return from the COVID-19 list is a matter of days away, too.
“If we get the Springer we're supposed to get whenever he comes back, that'll be fun and then Bo and Vlad, those three guys at the top of the lineup, that's exciting for me to think about,” said Montoyo, who plans to bat Springer at leadoff, ahead of Bichette and Guerrero. “Hopefully when George comes back, he doesn't take that long to get into rhythm.”
Guerrero’s at-bats against Scherzer after he hit into an inning-ending double play in the first were real tour-de-force stuff.
With the bases loaded in the third, Guerrero showed good patience until he got a pitch to drive, fouling off a slider, taking a four-seamer in, spitting on a slider just low and then launching a cookie slider middle away at 108.4 m.p.h. off the bat to centre. That erased an early 3-0 deficit.
“We all know he has great command of the strike zone,” said Guerrero. “But I was looking actually for something up in the zone, something that I can connect very well."
Then, after the Blue Jays tacked on a pair of unearned runs in the fourth, Guerrero led off the fifth by taking one fastball in and another away, watching a borderline strike hit the inner edge down, spitting on a slider low and away, fouling off a changeup in a similar spot to the called strike, then crushing a fastball middle away. This one left the bat at 110.5 m.p.h. to left.
“It was a full count and I was just looking for the same thing (as in the previous at-bat),” said Guerrero. “I let the ball travel for a little bit so I could make good contact with the ball.”
In the seventh, Finnegan put a 1-1 sinker on a middle-middle tee for Guerrero to send over the wall in right, giving him a hat trick with one laser to each field. That one was a two-run shot at 103.9 m.p.h. off the bat that put the Blue Jays up 9-5 after the Nationals had cut the Blue Jays' lead to two in the top half of the frame.
“That's special. Not many people can do that,” said Montoyo, who pointed out that Guerrero made a point of adjusting his pre-game work because he was pulling off the ball against the Rays. “That's what he was working on in batting practice, trying to go the other way and hitting the ball where it's pitched and he's taking that into the game.”
Added Bichette: “He was locked in. … It was just a good night. I don't really think you can really explain how you feel on nights like that. It's probably just a blur and everything looks in slow motion.”
The outburst came in handy on the latest bullpen day for the Blue Jays, with Trent Thornton going 2.1 innings, allowing a pair of homers to Trea Turner, followed by Tommy Milone, Anthony Castro, Tim Mayza, Joel Payamps, Tyler Chatwood and Rafael Dolis.
Crucially, Castro escaped a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the fourth by inducing an inning-ending double play from Victor Robles, protecting a 4-3 Blue Jays lead. The leverage only decreased from that point forward.
“Besides Vladdy, Castro was the game, getting the double-play ball,” said Montoyo. “That's the confidence I have in that kid. He's been a pleasant surprise and I can use him anywhere in high leverage. That was key.”
As effective as the relief crew was, consistently running bullpen games isn’t sustainable and with a stretch of 10 straight beginning Friday, the Blue Jays won’t be able to use their modified three-man rotation any longer. Assuming ace Hyun-Jin Ryu starts on turn Saturday – he’s feeling good and running through his prep as usual after leaving Sunday’s outing with a minor glute strain – the Blue Jays need to figure out a starter for Sunday vs. Atlanta and then Tuesday at Oakland.
Nate Pearson is slated to throw three to four innings in an alternate-training site game Thursday, which would line him up for Tuesday, and Montoyo mentioned that Ross Stripling is also building up while Anthony Kay offers another possibility.
“We’re going to go back to five starters,” he said, “but we’re working through that right now.”
Guerrero has worked through many of the issues he encountered over his first two seasons in the majors, dropping weight and transforming his body to begin realizing his ample potential. A trail of smiles and awe was left in his three-homer wake.
“Going through struggles builds you as a person if you look at it the right way,” said Bichette. “He's having fun, obviously doing great and bringing a lot of energy to the team.”
A productive Springer in front of Guerrero may only amplify the effect.
