While hitting for the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons on Wednesday night, Vlad Guerrero Jr. crushed a poor baseball all the way out of a minor league ballpark in Pawtucket. And if the Toronto Blue Jays have any sense, Guerrero himself will also be exiting minor league parks very soon.
Just listen to the violent crack that Vlad’s bat makes as soon as it finds contact. That is a Major-Leaguer’s crack, and nobody can in good faith say otherwise.
Guerrero has played just a few games in Triple-A this season so far, after a strained oblique kept him on the sidelines, but he hasn’t shown any signs of damage in his return. This was his second dinger in five games, and as of his fourth at-bat in this game tonight, he was hitting .412.
Still, the only hints about Guerrero’s call-up that the Jays have given are very vague. Last week, Toronto GM Ross Atkins said of his potential MLB debut, “Our sense is that it’s sooner than later.”
“He needs to get at-bats,” said Jays manager Charlie Montoyo after Guerrero doubled and dingered in his first Triple-A game of the year. “I don’t know how many more.”
Maybe tonight’s at-bats were enough.