Already with one of the greatest postseason performances in Blue Jays history, Guerrero is the American League Championship Series MVP, and he will now lead the Blue Jays to their first World Series appearance since 1993. The mighty Dodgers await, but with Guerrero playing like this, anything is possible.
For nearly a decade, Blue Jays fans across Canada have dreamed of Vladimir Guerrero Jr. They’ve dreamed of greatness, of championships and of moments like Monday night, but it always feels so far away until it actually happens.
George Springer was the star of Game 7, launching a three-run home run that will live forever in Blue Jays lore, but Guerrero’s performance in the ALCS was stunning to witness. This is Guerrero’s team, his stadium, his city and his country.
“I was born here,” Guerrero said through interpreter Hector Lebron. “I grew up in the Dominican, and then from the moment that I signed here, that I knew I was going to be here my entire career, I knew that somehow I had to make all the fans, the entire country, proud of me, of my team. And like I always say, my challenge is to bring the World Series here back to Canada.”
With six home runs on this dream run, Guerrero has already tied Joe Carter and José Bautista for the most in Blue Jays postseason history. He hit .385 with a 1.330 OPS and struck out just two times in the ALCS, an elite hitter in full control of his greatness.
“He’s the face of the franchise,” said manager John Schneider. “I remember a conversation, it was me and Max [Scherzer]. This was back in April in [my office]. We talked about, ‘Hey, you’re the standard now for this team’ and what comes with that, how you have to act, how you have to talk. He’s been great. He’s just been very, very aware of everything that’s going on, which is very hard to do when the spotlight is on you.”
Scherzer lights up when he’s asked about Guerrero. It’s like you just asked a 5 year old about Superman. Scherzer is a World Series champion and a three-time Cy Young Award winner, but underneath it all, he’s a baseball fan. He loves this stuff, and he has had a front-row seat to greatness for the past few weeks.
“Oh my gosh. It’s unbelievable,” Scherzer said. “He’s even grown up even this year; he’s become so much better. He’s such a complete player. It’s all around. It’s not just his hitting. Obviously, he can hit, we know it, but it’s his defense. It’s baserunning, it’s his instincts. That’s what’s making him unbelievable.”
This is the Guerrero Blue Jays fans once dreamed of when he was 17 and 18 years old, turning every Minor League game he played into his own highlight reel. The next big thing has become exactly that.
Schneider often says he feels fortunate just to have been along for Guerrero’s ride, managing him back to those days in the Minors. Since Guerrero’s debut in 2019, the Blue Jays have built around him with major signings and trades, but everything has orbited around the young star. It always comes back to Guerrero, the $500 million man who just became the most beloved athlete in Canada.
“He has become everything that I thought he would become, and he’s only going to get better, which is scary,” said Springer. “I mean, the dude’s 26 years old. He’s still learning, he’s still adapting to situations, still trying to figure stuff out. But I think the way he handles it, he handles himself with such class, he handles himself with grace. He’s always willing to learn. He’s a guy who will literally give you the shirt off his back. Whenever you have a guy like that in your locker room it means the world to us.”
It means so much to Guerrero, too. You can feel how genuine it is, his connection to this organization and its fans. As he stood on the podium, accepting the ALCS MVP Award, it wasn’t just the fans celebrating him, it was his teammates. The moment the ALCS trophy made its way from chairman Edward Rogers to president and CEO Mark Shapiro, Guerrero’s teammates were shoving him toward it.
“This means a lot. We’ve worked so hard for this,” Guerrero said. “And thanks to the fans who bring the energy. We need you guys. We need the energy every day. Thank you for bringing the energy. We do this for you guys.”
Now comes the Dodgers. Since Guerrero debuted, he has told the same story about his father, who never won a World Series in his Hall of Fame career. Vladdy wants to win one and give the ring to his father, then come back again for another of his own. He finally has his shot at the first.
