Vladimir Guerrero Jr. saw another baseball leave his bat at a blistering speed at Rogers Centre on Tuesday, only to see it land in a fielder’s glove once again.
The Toronto Blue Jays’ superstar slugger’s inexplicable struggles this season - he has just seven homers and is slugging a career-worst .356 - have culminated in one shocking number: Guerrero has yet to hit a home run at home in 2026.
The liner ripped to deep centre in Tuesday’s eventual 5-3 victory over the Boston Red Sox travelled an estimated 395 feet, just a few shy of clearing the wall. It’s a picture Guerrero has seen many times this season as he tries to shake this funk in Toronto - and for as many times as it has appeared the drought may be over, Guerrero’s confidence has not waned.
“I believe in God, and when he decides the home run will come, it’ll come,” Guerrero told Mitch Bannon of The Athletic after the game. “I know it’s going to come. I just keep praying and keep working hard. Eventually, it’s going to come.”
Guerrero has dealt with injuries (a back problem before the All-Star break, hamstring tightness recently) and a swing that has just been out of sorts - as hitting coach David Popkins described it, an orchestra with some instruments out of tune - leading to the disaster of a season for the man signed to a franchise-record $500 million extension in April of 2025.
But Guerrero isn’t making any excuses. “I feel good,” Guerrero said. “But, like I say, sometimes you feel good and you still make outs.”
Hitting at home has never been an issue for Guerrero in the past - 71 of his 190 career homers have been hit at the Rogers Centre. He smashed three home runs in the Rogers Centre in the postseason a year ago, including a no-doubt grand slam against the New York Yankees in Game 2 of the ALDS, one of the biggest home runs in franchise history against a bitter rival.
Guerrero’s struggles have helped contribute to the Blue Jays’ current situation: the team is sitting last in the American League East at 58-63, trailing four teams for the final wild-card slot in the AL. Their record is owed largely to the team’s offence that ranks 29th in the league in runs scored and dead last in on-base plus slugging percentage.
But the Jays are sitting just 2.5 games out of the final wild-card spot, thanks largely to a weak field in the AL. Guerrero still has a chance to help the team make a late push for the postseason if he can get a few more balls that are caught on the warning track to go over the wall.
“We have this right in front of us,” Guerrero said. “It’s one game at a time. Whatever happens, happens.”
