The Toronto Blue Jays season is off to a disappointing start. Entering Thursday’s series finale against the Milwaukee Brewers, Toronto owns a 7-10 record and sits in fourth place in the American League East.
The team has been hit hard by injuries early in the year, with Trey Yesavage, George Springer and Alejandro Kirk all currently sidelined. Despite the adversity, superstar Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is doing everything he can to keep the Blue Jays competitive.
Through his first 17 games, the 27-year-old first baseman has posted a .328 batting average, .446 on-base percentage, .889 OPS, one home run and seven RBIs, carrying over his dominant postseason form from last October. Guerrero is well on his way toward earning a sixth straight All-Star selection.
© Mitch Stringer-Imagn Images
As Toronto prepared for its series finale in Milwaukee, manager John Schneider was forced to roll out new lineup combinations with so many regulars sidelined.
Springer’s absence, in particular, opened up the designated hitter spot, giving Schneider the flexibility to shift players around and provide rest where needed.
That is exactly what he did Thursday. Kazuma Okamoto, Toronto’s corner infielder, drew his first official MLB start at first base, Guerrero’s usual position. But Schneider did not remove Guerrero from the lineup. Instead, he moved him to designated hitter, giving him his first DH start of the 2026 season.
Guerrero remains an elite defensive first baseman as a former Gold Glove winner, but even then, a day off his feet during the long grind of the season is valuable. With the Blue Jays still holding expectations of making another deep postseason run, keeping Guerrero fresh is essential.
He came painfully close to delivering Toronto a World Series title last year, and the organization knows how important it is to manage his workload.
The bright side for the Blue Jays is that Guerrero is signed through the 2039 season on a massive 14-year, $500 million contract, giving him plenty of opportunities over the next decade to chase a championship and cement his legacy in Toronto.
