Vladimir Guerrero Jr. got a night off Monday in Baltimore, with lower-back tightness keeping the Blue Jays’ first baseman out of the lineup as the club opened a critical three-game series against the Orioles.
Toronto arrived with little room left in the Wild Card race. The Blue Jays were three games behind the White Sox for the third and final spot, and Chicago owned the tiebreaker, leaving Toronto’s postseason hopes on a thin edge heading into the final week.
Back discomfort caught up with Guerrero
- Guerrero first felt the issue flare while stretching at first base a few days earlier.
- He remained in the lineup for Sunday’s series finale against the Rangers, but the discomfort began to interfere with his swing.
- The Blue Jays removed him from that game in Texas after noticing he was unable to take his usual cuts.
- By Monday night in Baltimore, the soreness had not improved enough for Guerrero to play.
Manager John Schneider said the problem is most apparent when Guerrero plants his feet and turns through the baseball. Toronto knew he was tight before Sunday’s game, but his swings showed that the back was limiting him.
“It’s more when he’s landing and rotating,” Schneider said. “You could see it in some of his swings yesterday. We knew going in that he was a little tight, but he was not really getting his normal swing off.”
Day-to-day outlook
Guerrero has worked through back trouble at different points this season, along with other smaller physical issues. This time, though, the club saw enough of a change in his swing to pull him from action rather than ask him to push through it.
Schneider expects Guerrero back once he can swing without significant discomfort, whether or not Toronto remains alive in the Wild Card chase.
“As long as he feels better and isn’t really uncomfortable swinging,” Schneider said. “He’s really just day to day.”
Rain in Baltimore could give Guerrero some welcome recovery time, with unsettled weather expected during the series and Tuesday looking especially troublesome. After the Orioles set, the Blue Jays head home for their final regular-season series, opening against the Reds on Friday.
