Toronto Blue Jays first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is officially back.
The team activated Guerrero ahead of Saturday afternoon’s game against the New York Yankees in the Bronx and sent outfielder Davis Schneider down to Triple-A Buffalo in a corresponding move.
Guerrero will play first base and bat second in his return.
Guerrero has been out since going on the seven-day concussion IL last weekend. He passed his final concussion tests after returning to the team on Friday.
“He felt good,” Schneider said Friday. “Even before he left to play in Clearwater, he was feeling good. He feels pretty normal, so that’s a good thing.”
Guerrero played a minor-league rehab game on Thursday, hitting a double for the Single-A Dunedin Blue Jays in Clearwater, Fla.
The 27-year-old Guerrero went on the 7-day IL after being hit in the head by the knee/thigh of Yankees’ shortstop George Lombard Jr. during a chaotic play at third base last Friday night at Rogers Centre. The ball got passed Lombard and Guerrero scored on the play, but appeared to be in some discomfort running down the third base line. He was then removed from the game and Schneider told reporters the following day Guerrero dealt with a headache.
Guerrero is in the midst of a difficult 2026 season where he’s slashed .263/.337/.356 with just seven home runs and 46 RBI. However, Guerrero is a career .300 hitter against the Yankees and has 22 home runs in 108 games with a .904 OPS. He was particularly impactful in last year’s American League Division series, clubbing three home runs and driving in nine runs with a .529 batting average in the Jays’ four-game victory.
Schneider, 27, is slashing .142/.295/.274 with three home runs and 12 RBI in 62 games so far this season.
Toronto enters play Saturday four games under .500 at 63-67, one and a half games back of the Texas Rangers for the final AL wild-card playoff spot. Ace Dylan Cease will take the mound Saturday against left-hander Ryan Weathers.
