Vladimir Guerrero Jr. has gone far too long without leaving one at Rogers Centre, and the Blue Jays are finally in position for that drought to end against Seattle.
The number is staggering: 378 days and 353 plate appearances since Guerrero Jr. last homered in the regular season at 1 Blue Jay Way, when he went deep on August 18, 2025, off Nathan Eovaldi. At home this year, the ball has been flying for plenty of Toronto hitters - 16 different Blue Jays have homered at Rogers Centre, a list that includes Myles Straw and Tyler Heinemann, who no longer plays for Toronto.
Luis Urias, acquired from Arizona on June 20th, has already gone deep twice at home. Brandon Valenzuela, Yohendrick Pinango, Charles McAdoo, and Sean Keys have also homered in Toronto after beginning the year in Buffalo, with Valenzuela reaching six home runs in Toronto.
That leaves Guerrero Jr. as the obvious next name on the board. Today, the 17th Blue Jay will hit one out north of the border, and it won’t be Brett Bateman, despite the spark he has provided for Toronto.
The matchup only adds to the case. Guerrero Jr. homered three times at home in the 2025 postseason, and the last of those came against Seattle starter Logan Gilbert in Game 6 of the ALCS.
In his career, including the postseason, Guerrero Jr. has gone deep off Gilbert three times in 23 plate appearances. He is slugging .810 against him, with an expected slugging percentage of .745, an average exit velocity of 98.6, and four barrels on 17 balls in play.
His final at bat on Saturday was another reminder that the power is still there. Guerrero Jr. smoked the hardest ball he, or any Blue Jay, has hit all season, a line drive to left that was caught by Mariners left fielder Randy Aroazena just before it decapitated him. The ball traveled 299 feet with a launch angle of 7 degrees, but the exit velocity told the real story: Guerrero Jr. is healthy and still capable of driving the ball with force.
The only thing missing has been the home run. He has just one since the All-Star break, coming on August 8th against Philadelphia at Citizens Bank Park. That changes today, when he hits his 72nd career home run at Rogers Centre.
And maybe there’s more coming. If Guerrero Jr. doesn’t finally break through, the Blue Jays won’t be back home until September 11th against Baltimore, which would mean another two weeks of hearing about the drought.
So with first pitch set for 1:37 PM ET, the clock says it’s time for Vladdy to finally homer at home.
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