Blue Jays Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to undergo further testing following early exit from Monday’s game

It is certainly something that the Toronto Blue Jays don’t want to see, especially during the heated stretch to the playoffs. But on Monday night, star first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. left the game in the fifth inning in what turned out to be left hamstring tightness.

Earlier in the contest, Guerrero was shown to be grabbing his left leg at first base signalling perhaps something wasn’t right. He would go on to make a couple of dazzling defensive plays at first that may have inadvertently aggravates the issue before finally departing a few innings later.

Whether Guerrero’s removal was just for a precautionary measure or not, the fact that he had to undergo further MRI examination following the game, as per Arden Zwelling of Sportsnet, still makes Blue Jays just a little more uneasy.

Blue Jays Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to undergo further testing following early exit from Monday’s game

As for the testing results and how Vladdy feels, Jays’ manager John Schneider said they should know later today (Tuesday). On the bright side, Schneider appeared to have some optimistic words on his current injury status, as per Keegan Matheson of MLB.com. 

“He’s doing all right. It was that stretch, obviously. At this time of year, everyone is kind of grinding a little bit, and that just irritates his hammy. It’s just tightness. He’s going to get an MRI … just to rule everything out, then we’ll see how he is.”

Toronto can’t afford to have Guerrero out for any period of time. After all, he had been one of the main driving forces for the Jays’ offensive attack this season. Guerrero currently leads the team in runs scored (83), home runs (21), walks (71), batting average with a minimum of 100 at-bats (.298), and OPS with a minimum of 100 at-bats (.894)., making him perhaps a dark horse candidate for the American League MVP this season.

We saw how important George Springer was to the Jays already when the club struggled to just a .500 record during his time when he was sidelined. So one can’t imagine what could happen to Toronto and their playoff aspirations if anything were to happen to Guerrero.

Hopefully, we will see Vladdy promptly back in action in the coming day or two as the Jays aim to end their current two-game skid as they continue their series against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Tuesday.