Deep cut stat shows Vladdy is baseball’s best hitter since his haircut

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. has been playing at an unreal level for close to two months now. Calling it a hot streak feels like a disservice, an understatement.

Guerrero's performance has been one of the few bright spots in the drudgery of the Toronto Blue Jays' season. With a recently-ended 22-game hit streak, this is the version of the Blue Jays first baseman we’ve been waiting for since his MVP-caliber 2021 season.

He has been single-handedly carrying Toronto's offense. But what led to the change and sudden uptick in production?

Deep cut stat shows Vladdy is baseball’s best hitter since his haircut

It has to be the hair, right? Guerrero debuted his new look on June 19. Gone were the long dreadlocks we’ve been used to seeing for years now. With the new, shorter hair, a new Vladdy emerged.

Don’t get it wrong, Guerrero was good through the first two and a half months of the season. In his first 73 games, he hit .280 with 122 wRC+, but his .398 slugging percentage and seven home runs betrayed a strange lack of power production.

Since chopping off the locks, he has been the best offensive player in baseball — and boy, has it been impressive. Heading into Sunday's action with an MLB-leading 239 wRC+ since June 19, other top players are struggling to keep pace with the Blue Jays 25-year-old slugger.

And it’s not particularly close. The list of players with a wRC+ over 200 since Guerrero shed the dreads is a short one.

The New York Yankees’ Aaron Judge, with his 15 home runs, has a 231 wRC+. Kansas City Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr., who has been talked about as an AL MVP candidate, has a 211 wRC+. Brent Rooker of the Oakland Athletics has a 207 wRC+.

Among this select group of offensively gifted players, the four-time All-Star leads the way with 16 home runs and 46 RBI in 44 games since June 19. He has scored three fewer runs than Witt Jr., but considering the discrepancy in the Blue Jays and Royals offenses, that seems like a win.

In 188 plate appearances over this span, Guerrero's hitting a ridiculous .393, getting on base at a .441 clip, slugging an insane .798 and leading the way with a .508 wOBA. For reference, the league average wOBA is .318.

That’s how dominant Guerrero has been since his trip to the barbershop.

With his recent admission that he'd like to remain in Toronto, the Blue Jays had better get ready to back the truck up to keep Guerrero in a Blue Jays uniform. They'll just have to hope that he keeps the hair short.