Blue Jays: Vladimir Guerrero Jr’s HR Off Britton Was His Most Impressive Yet

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. has produced a lot for his highlight reel, but his home run against Zach Britton of the Yankees may be the most impressive yet.

If the Toronto Blue Jays were looking for a way to commemorate the 30th anniversary of their first game at the Rogers Centre, they certainly did so in grand fashion with last night’s come from behind victory against the New York Yankees. In a day that was focused heavily on celebrating the team’s past, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. certainly showed off the team’s future.

Down by one run in the bottom of the eighth inning and with two men on board, Guerrero barreled a baseball into the centre field seats to give the Blue Jays the lead. The three-run blast was the seventh home run of the season for the 20-year old slugger and it was likely his most impressive home run thus far.

Guerrero’s home run came off of Yankees’ reliever Zach Britton, a reliever who has built his game off of negating the long ball.

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With a dominating sinker, Britton has been able to overpower even the game’s best hitters, surely no 20-year old with just 33 major league games to his name should have been able to send his patented pitch over 400 feet, especially in a high leverage situation. Though, that is exactly what Guerrero was able to do, showing off his raw power and bat speed to get down low and give Britton’s pitch a ride into the stands.

Britton’s resume is well known, since moving into the bullpen for the Baltimore Orioles in 2014, he has become one of the major’s most feared relief pitchers. The home run given up to Guerrero last night was just the 36th home run he has allowed in his career and only his 14th since moving to the bullpen in 2014. Since 2014, Britton has allowed the second-fewest home runs and has the second lowest HR/9 rates out of all relievers with at least 250 innings pitched, trailing teammate Aroldis Chapman in both categories.

Guerrero joins a small group of players who can claim to have homered off the talented left-handed reliever, but when considering his youthful age he is in a league of his own. The eighth inning blast in yesterday’s victory over the Yankees makes Guerrero the youngest player ever to hit a home run off Britton.

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Mookie Betts, Adrian Beltre, Jose Abreu and Josh Donaldson are just some of the talented names that can say they have hit a home run off Britton but none can say they accomplished the feat at just 20-years old.

On a day spent remembering the greatest moments in Rogers Centre history, Guerrero’s game-winning home run served as a fitting conclusion to a 30-year anniversary while also giving fans a glimpse of what may lie ahead in the franchise’s next chapter.