Guerrero Jr. gets the start at DH against the Twins

The Blue Jays primary first baseman will be in the starting lineup for the first time in a week.
Texas Rangers v Toronto Blue Jays
Texas Rangers v Toronto Blue Jays | Mark Blinch/GettyImages

Big Vlad is back in the starting lineup. The Toronto Blue Jays primary first baseman will hit third and play as the teams Designated Hitter on Monday night when they take on the Minnesota Twins at Rogers Centre to begin a three game set.

It will be the first time Guerrero has started a game in a week after coming out of the Blue Jays series opener in Pittsburgh on August 18. Guerrero was pointing to his leg and speaking to staff in the dugout in the bottom of the first inning against the Pirates, before being removed later in the game.

Guerrero Jr. gets the start at DH against the Twins

Guerrero stayed with the Jays for the entirety of the road trip and only got one at-bat the rest of the week, which came in the eighth inning of Toronto's loss to Miami on Sunday afternoon. He came up with two men on and two out with the Jays down by two, but after a lengthy at bat, Guerrero popped up to end the inning, just missing an 87 mph slider from Ronny Henriquez.

Former Twin Ty France will be back at first base in place of Guerrero. France has a solid 19 games with the Blue Jays since coming over at the trade deadline, along with reliever Louis Varland. He's posted a .296/.371/.389 slash line with the Blue Jays after hitting .251/.320/.357 for the Twins in 101 games.

Guerrero has been one of the most durable players in MLB since his debut in 2019, appearing in 944 games. He's spent only 187 of those games as a designated hitter, compiling a slash line of .264/.348/.467 with an OPS of .814 in those games. He's hit 36 home runs and driven in 113 RBIs with 190 hits over his career as a DH. This season alone, Guerrero has been the Blue Jays DH 16 times and has a .328/.394/.500 slash line with an .894 OPS.