The Toronto Blue Jays came out in full force to send their players to the 2026 MLB All-Star Game.
After the MLB released the updated All-Star voting, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. led all American League first basemen. It was a surprise as Guerrero is in the midst of his worst offensive season, as he has just three home runs.
Despite the bad start at the plate, Guerrero is still leading the All-Star vote, which he admits is surprising to him.
“I was surprised that I’m in first,” Guerrero told The Athletic. “There’s a lot of first basemen doing a better job than me. But I don’t control the fans, I don’t control the vote.”
Phase 1 of the voting narrows down to two players at every position for another vote to be the starter. So, although Guerrero is leading the vote, it doesn’t guarantee he will be the starter.
However, if Guerrero is voted to start in the All-Star game, he said he will go, despite the struggles at the plate.
“If they vote for me, I gotta go,” Guerrero said. “If I’m voted first, I’m going.”
Blue Jays manager John Schneider, meanwhile, understands why Guerrero is getting so many votes, despite his down season.
“If numbers aren’t on the scoreboard, who are you paying to come watch?” Schneider said. “He’s one of those guys. So I think that plays into it.”
Guerrero is hitting .276 with 3 home runs and 27 RBIs.
Blue Jays Trying to Get Guerrero Going
GettyVladimir Guerrero Jr. has just three home runs this season.
Guerrero is in the first year of his 14-year, $500 million deal with the Blue Jays, and the first season is not going as expected.
Amid Guerrero’s struggles at the plate, Toronto has been trying to get him going, as they have given him days at DH. And, Schneider even moved him up to second and eventually even put him in the lead-off spot.
As Toronto has been searching to get Guerrero going, Schneider is confident it will turn.
“I want him to keep going, keep understanding he’s the face of our team,” Schneider said. “He’s our best hitter. It’s going to come around for him. It takes a game. It takes a swing.”
However, the season is nearly halfway over, and Guerrero isn’t even on pace to reach double-digit home runs, which would be a major shock.
Toronto Remains Confident in Team
Although the Blue Jays are under .500, Toronto remains confident in its group.
The Blue Jays believe they have the talent to go on a run, as veteran starting pitcher Patrick Corbin said there’s no panic in the group, despite the series loss to the New York Yankees.
“You’d obviously love to win the series and kind of end on a good note,” said Patrick Corbin. “But we’ve had a stretch against some pretty good teams and just kind of been in games and maybe not have won a couple of those (when) maybe we should have.
“I think the good thing about this team is everyone comes in the same whether we won or lost, and they’re prepared. That’s what you like. There’s so many highs and lows in this game. And just to see how people react to that, it shows there’s no panic here.”
The Blue Jays are 35-38.
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