Guerrero flashes strong defence on both sides of the infield

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Toronto Blue Jays

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Sure, it was another in the play-out-the-string games that frankly can’t end soon enough for the Blue Jays.

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But some plays — good and bad — have more meaning than others as the team looks to determine just what’s left on the carcass of its roster as a critical offseason approaches.

So we take you to the Rogers Centre on Friday night and the top of the seventh inning with the Blue Jays leading the Cardinals 3-2 and starter Kevin Gausman down to his final pitches. With a St. Louis runner on third, Vlad Guerrero Jr. was cat-like ready at his old position, ready to pounce to protect the slim margin.

Wth a flash of the leather, Guerrero snagged a 100 mile per hour grounder coming to him off the bat of the Cards Paul Goldschmidt. The baseball instincts kicked in and Guerrero dove to his right to the bag to tag Masyn Winn before firing the ball across the diamond as he fell, narrowly missing a double play as Spencer Horowitz couldn’t make the snag at first.

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It was one of a series of sharp defensive plays by Guerrero that in part helped the Jays score a 4-3 walkoff win in 11 innings. The offensive hero was catcher Alejandro Kirk who belted a bases-loaded single to bring in the winning run.

That seventh inning defensive gem was a snapshot of what would be an otherwise quiet night at the hot corner. And Guerrero’s presence there certainly carries some intrigue as he approaches 100 innings at third this season, the same position he broke into the major leagues at back in 2019 with mixed (we’re being polite here) results.

For now, it’s just a late-season experiment, heaped on to the fact-finding mission of the otherwise meaningless September baseball being conducted in these parts.

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Once thought to be the position he’d call home for good, Guerrero lasted just a season at third. But times (and need) have changed, as has Guerrero’s maturation and prowess defensively.

“His overall game awareness is better,” manager John Schneider said of Guerrero prior to Friday’s acrobatics. “He was 19 years-old and learning everything on the fly (when he previously played third) and so much attention went into his offence.

“He’s played more some he’s got a better clock. I think it’s been impressive that he’s picked it right back up.”

No one is ready to anoint Guerrero the third baseman of the future, but in an off-season where so many holes need to be addressed, it can’t hurt to explore options. And that’s exactly what the team will do with Guerrero’s defensive assignments as often as it makes sense over the final two weeks of 2024.

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As comfortable as Guerrero has been at first — winning a Gold Glove there in 2022 — third has always been his preferred perch. But after logging 96 games and 824 innings at the position in his rookie 2019 season, he lost the job because of fitness concerns that dulled his performance.

Just 19 at the time, Guerrero switched spots, seemingly for good playing just four innings at third over the next four seasons. But with no natural long-term third baseman on the roster, why not explore the possibilities?

“There are a few things that need to be cleaned up of course, but there’s no doubt in my mind that if he ever hard to play third base every day that he would be an above average defender at the position,” Jays third base coach Carlos Febles said on Friday. “Third base is way different than first base but you have to play a little faster than first. But this is a guy who has good hands and good instincts. It’s a matter of getting the right repetitions and absolutely he can definitely be a solid third baseman at this level.”

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And then there’s the arm. When he was third base coach with the Red Sox, Febles remembers feeling the same way about the younger Guerrero, who was just getting his feet wet in the big leagues.

“I watched a little bit and I just saw the arm,” Febles said of Guerrero, who also made two more stellar plays at first in each of the ninth and 10th innings to keep the game tied. “I knew he had good hands and there were little things he needed to work on, but a guy who has an arm like that, that helps at third. You can get away with staying back on balls and not rush. He can trust his instincts and trust his arm.”

As he works with Guerrero now – as Febles did during a lengthy session prior to Friday’s game — he sees a much more athletic version than the rookie who committed 17 errors.

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“He’s in better shape and that helps him to move laterally,” Febles said. “For him to play third base, has has to keep himself in really good shape because you have to move a little more over there than at first.

“But I know he likes it. Every time he plays (at third) he enjoys it.”

GAME ON

For added entertainment value, Guerrero showed his stuff aft first on Friday as well, as Schneider shored up the lineup defensively for the ninth. With a runner on second and two out, Guerrero dove sharply to his right in the middle of the diamond to snag a sharply hit Nolan Arenado grounder to end the inning and keep the score tied … Same deal in the 10th when Guerrero made another deft play between first and second to deny Luken Baker a single to end the inning … Those plays helped set up the winning heroics for Kirk. After Guerrero was walked, Leo Jimenez laid down a perfect bunt single to load the bases with nobody out. The Jays catcher launched a fly ball to left field beyond the Cards outfielders to cash in the winner … After allowing hits to the first four Cardinals batters he faced – and letting the visitors jump out to a 2-0 lead in the first – Jays starter Kevin Gausman settled into a groove shutting down the Cards through six subsequent scoreless innings. … The Jays did damage of their own with a three-run fourth that started with a rocket Guerrero double to drive home George Springer … With Gausman done after his nine hit, two earned run effort (on 94 pitches), the Cards tied it in the eighth when St. Louis second baseman Thomas Saggese launched the first home run of his career.

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