Vladimir Guerrero Jr. sounded encouraged with back tightness that he said is higher than his earlier lock-up, and the Toronto Blue Jays made the feeling tangible. He snapped out of a slump with a hit and then helped fuel a 9-3 Canada Day rout over the New York
TORONTO — Vladimir Guerrero Jr. walked into Wednesday’s talk about his body with a familiar theme, but a different location.
This current bout of back tightness, the Toronto Blue Jays first baseman said, feels similar to the one that locked him up a couple of weeks ago — only it’s a little higher up. “More toward the obliques right now,” Guerrero said Wednesday. “But I feel way better than yesterday.”
On Tuesday, he missed his fifth game of the year. That absence left him one short of his single-season career high, and it put him almost a third of the way to his cumulative total of 18 from 2020 through 2025.
Two weeks ago, he said he wasn’t sure what led the back to tighten. This time, the cause was clearer: the heavy slate of extra work meant to get him right at the plate. “More toward the obliques right now,” he repeated, but the real explanation came with the grind. Guerrero described a routine that starts before games, continues after games, and keeps going until the swing changes feel permanent. “I have to get better and sitting here (in the clubhouse), I’m not going to get better. I have to take a lot of swings to get better. It’s part of the game.”.
He added specifics: “a lot, like 300 swings a day before games, after games, probably like 100.”
The dividends from those rips started to show at the most important time — when the at-bats had started to drag and the pressure had started to mount.
Monday’s 2-1 win over the New York Mets ended an 0-for-12 skid for Guerrero, and he made it matter immediately. He ended it with a single and lined out to left field at 107.1 m.p.h. In between, he ripped a first-inning double that helped plate the game’s opening run.
The Canada Day message got even louder on Tuesday. Guerrero walked and scored in a 9-3 romp that ended a maddening 3-7 homestand.
That breakout wasn’t just one man’s night. The Blue Jays seized control in the third on Ernie Clement’s RBI double and a three-run shot from Sean Keys — his first home run in the majors. The cushion kept growing. Daulton Varsho added an RBI single. and Myles Straw delivered a three-run drive in the seventh to turn it into a laugher.
The timing of the offense mattered, too. It came on the first bullpen day since Patrick Corbin was demoted to the bullpen. Opener Braydon Fisher worked a clean first, Spencer Miles followed with three shutout frames, and Corbin navigated five innings while allowing three runs. The day drew 41,842.
Still, as welcome as the win was, Guerrero’s progress remained the most impactful variable in a Blue Jays season that has felt uneven. He even joked about his goal as he tries to keep refining his approach. “I’m trying to find (a way) to hit the ball at nobody.”
One focus. he said. has been stacking his weight on his back leg — creating a more forceful stride rather than a softer move forward with the front leg. He’s been working on it off both 100 m.p.h. fastballs and curveballs from the iPitch machine. “trying to put my swing in the perfect situation to go out there and do my job.”.
But Guerrero made it clear he isn’t claiming the work is finished.
“I’m going to learn a lot of this season, in a good way,” he said. “I’m a person that doesn’t care how I’m going. I just go out there and try to help the team doing whatever I can to win. you know?. I never make excuses. If I’m not doing my job, I know I’m not doing my job. But I believe in God. I believe in me. I know one day it’s going to click my way and I hope it’s going to be soon.”.
He plans to keep swinging even as his body asks questions. The World Series run last year changed how he approached the off-season. Guerrero said he typically begins his work in the beginning of November, which is when the Blue Jays’ 2025 finished. Because the run went deeper, he pushed back the start of his work for 2026 to the start of December. It has made this season “a little bit harder. ” he said. but “it’s nothing to complain about. it’s not an excuse. But that’s one of the things my body feels.”.
He also described the familiar frustration: when the swing feels “perfect” in the cage. the games don’t always match it. “Another is that my swing feels ‘perfect’ in the cage, but during games, ‘it’s different,’” he said. Mechanically, he feels good in training. “I don’t know, I have no idea,” he said, shaking his head. “Mechanically, I feel good. I have no idea what happens, but I know I’m going to figure it out. And, when I figure it out, something good will come.”.
If there’s one element he’s coming back to, it’s timing. “Instead of letting the pitcher come to me, I just want to hit the ball before they throw it,” Guerrero added. “I think, as of now, I’ve been taking better at-bats and I know something big is coming.”
For a Blue Jays team still trying to find its way, the question isn’t whether Guerrero believes it — it’s how fast the rest of the club can ride the momentum while he continues to sort out what happens between the cage and the pitch.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Toronto Blue Jays New York Mets Canada Day game Ernie Clement Sean Keys Daulton Varsho Myles Straw Patrick Corbin Braydon Fisher Spencer Miles baseball
Back tightness is basically just baseball arthritis right? weird.
Canada Day rout over the Mets?? So they were just having a party and all of a sudden he’s fine? I didn’t even realize he was hurt, thought Mets would win.
300 swings a day before games and 100 after?? That’s like overworking, then he magically plays better. Also I’m pretty sure Mets fans don’t even care about Canada Day, so what’s the point.
Wait he said it’s higher up toward the obliques, but also said it’s the same thing as two weeks ago… so like did he injure it again or was it just soreness? And 9-3 sounds good but I’m stuck on the “more toward the obliques” part like that’s supposed to explain everything lol.