Toronto Blue Jays first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is not starting in Wednesday’s series finale against the Houston Astros as the team gives him a day off.
Manager John Schneider mentioned Guerrero is dealing with hamstring tightness but his absence from Wednesday’s starting lineup is not due to injury. The team does not have a day off until Aug. 24.
Kazuma Okamoto will play first base and George Springer will serve as the designated hitter against the Astros.
Guerrero was 0-for-3 with a walk in Tuesday’s 7-2 loss and appeared to be in some discomfort while trying to leg out a ground ball in the eighth inning.
The 27-year-old pulled into first base gingerly and doubled over briefly but stayed in the game at first base for the ninth.
Schneider said after the game that Guerrero -- who had previously missed time with a hamstring injury -- is not dealing with anything “major” and described him as “tight, tired.”
Guerrero is one of several Blue Jays in the midst of a difficult 2026 season. He enters play Wednesday slashing .259/.338/.349 with six home runs and 44 RBI.
“I think timing has been impacted, rhythm, which impacts confidence,” Toronto general manager Ross Atkins said of Guerrero’s season in an appearance on TSN1050’s OverDrive Tuesday. “It is such a fine motor skill to be able to have that synced up.
“Your timing starts to change just a hair, then finding that rhythm to be synced up to be in powerful positions to have enough room to still cover a breaking ball when you’re on time for a fastball is one of the hardest things to do in sport. If that starts to get a little out of sync, that can start to impact things that are going on in your brain.
“Stopping, recreating, or getting back to that pattern that is appropriate isn’t just a click of a button. It isn’t us just showing him that pattern, it’s a feeling. He’s working towards it, I know he’s going to find it…hitters say it just takes one swing. I’m not expecting it to be a light-switch turnaround for any offensive player, but I do believe things can happen quickly.”
The Blue Jays (53-61) sit four games back of the final American League wild-card spot with six teams standing between them and the playoffs.
