Blue Jays coach breaks down what's going wrong for Vladdy

As Vladimir Guerrero Jr. tries to fight his way out of a horrendous slump, the Blue Jays believe the answer may be in his swing.

Toronto batting coach David Popkins told Rogers Sportsnet's Hazel Mae that Guerrero's swing just isn't right. As a result, the All-Star first baseman has been hitting the ball on the ground too much, or chasing pitches, neither of which is a recipe for success. Guerrero's surprising lack of power this season has been a story all year, even back in March and April when at least he was hitting .354 with a .907 OPS. He has just 14 doubles and five home runs — with zero of those homers coming at Rogers Centre.

There was a glimmer of hope on Wednesday (Jul. 8) in the Blue Jays' 10-0 win over the San Francisco Giants. Guerrero smashed a 419-foot, two-run home run to left center field in the ninth inning, his first round-tripper since Jun. 18 in Boston and just his fifth of the season. Guerrero put a much better swing on the ball than he has in recent weeks, which ended up as a line drive clocked at 108.3 mph off of the bat.

Guerrero's swing is a little off according to Blue Jays coaches

Entering play Wednesday, Guerrero was batting .263/.345/.344 with a .689 OPS in 87 games. Since May 1, those numbers have gotten worse, with Vladdy's batting average dropping from .232 in May to .198 in June, and his OPS falling from .623 in May to .498 in June. His slugging percentage was below .300 for both months (.284 in May and .264 in June). Those numbers show a consistent lack of power, a result of making bad contact at the plate.

Guerrero has dealt with a back issue at times this year, something that may affecting things as well. He'll skip the All-Star Game this year to give himself some time to heal up, even though he was once again elected to start at first base for the American League. His election makes it clear that he's a popular player and the face of the Blue Jays, even during a difficult season.

Because of that, an argument could be made Guerrero is the engine of the Blue Jays' offense. The entire lineup has struggled this year, as Toronto is in the bottom five of the majors with 376 runs and a team OPS of .688 in 93 games. They've only hit 93 home runs.

The results surely haven't been there for the entire offense this year, Popkins said to MLB.com, but he believes the team will get through it. They've made adjustments, but they don't want to go overboard and do too much. What the offense needs is to "throw a haymaker and see what happens. Land one punch, that's all we need. We need one shot," Popkins said. Then, the team can exhale and free themselves up mentally, which Popkins believe will encourage more production. Was the series in San Francisco that punch?

More than likely, the Blue Jays will need Guerrero producing if the offense is going to improve. Guerrero himself knows he needs to improve at the plate by having better at-bats, and by being patient. He told Rogers Sportsnet's Shi Davidi that he needs to "let the pitcher come to him," and not try to "hit the ball before they throw it." It has been noted that Guerrero has been spending a lot of time in the batting cage.

Guerrero is chasing pitches. His chase rate has jumped this season to 31.1 percent from 21.5 percent a year ago. He's only barreling 6.8 percent of the contact he makes, which is down from 12.2 percent a year ago. His 43.9 percent hard-hit rate is the lowest of his career since his rookie year in 2019.

If the Blue Jays want to turn this season around, Guerrero and the offense need to start putting more runs on the board. Winning the last two games against the Giants by a combined score of 19-3 with Vladdy homering Wednesday is a good sign, but they'll need more.

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