The Toronto Blue Jays are continuing to play Vladimir Guerrero Jr. despite going 0-for-5.
Toronto has lost five straight games and is looking to avoid a four-game sweep at home by the Texas Rangers on Sunday. On Saturday, Guerrero played DH and hit second, and went 0-for-5, including one play that he didn’t run out of the box and would have reached first as Corey Seager booted the ball.
After going 0-for-5 and his offensive struggles, Blue Jays fans called for Guerrero to be benched. However, he’s still in the lineup and hitting third, as Toronto announced its lineup for the series finale.
The Blue Jays’ lineup on Sunday is as follows:
- G. Springer DH
- N. Lukes RF
- V. Guerrero Jr. 1B
- K. Okamoto 3B
- D. Varsho CF
- E. Clement 2B
- A. Kirk C
- Y. Piñango LF
- A. Giménez SS
Despite Guerrero going hitless on Saturday and not showing effort running out a ground ball, the Blue Jays are continuing to play him.
Guerrero is hitting .271 with 4 home runs and 34 RBIs this season. He’s hitting .213 with 1 home run and 9 RBI in his last 15 games.
Blue Jays Manager Responds to Calls to Bench Guerrero
With Guerrero struggling offensively, and after not running out a ball that he woulda reached first on, many Blue Jays fans have called for Guerrero to be benched.
However, Schneider said Guerrero is too good to demote in the lineup or bench, and the team just needs him to figure it out.
“He gets it, he hears what everyone’s saying, he wants to have more slug than what he has right now,” Schneider said on Fan 590. “He’s the face of our franchise… He’s too good to kind of try to motivate by demoting him, he’s too good for that.”
Yet, the season is already half over, and Guerrero isn’t even projected to reach 10 home runs, which would be a massive disappointment. Especially with Guerrero in the first year of a 14-year, $500 million deal. He’s also yet to hit a home run in Toronto, which is frustrating.
“Weird, really, really weird,” Schneider said about Guerrero’s season. “Baseball is a weird game. I know the fans are waiting for him to put on the (home run) jacket here, I know he is. I know we are. You know, it’ll turn. I’ll put a dollar on it with you, that’s he’ll hit at least one here before the season is over.”
If the Blue Jays are going to make the playoffs, Guerrero will need to get going.
Toronto Frustrated With Recent Stretch
The Blue Jays got back to .500 and have since lost five straight games.
Toronto is now outside of a playoff spot, which is a surprise after last year’s success.
“It’s frustrating,” said Schneider. “But I think it gets more frustrating if you allow it to fester. We can’t allow it to fester. So, it starts with Biebs tomorrow. It starts with the lineup having a good approach against Rocker, and you got to just go. You got to just figure it out.”
The Blue Jays enter play on Sunday with a record of 39-44.
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