Is Vladimir Guerrero Jr. playing tonight? Latest injury update for Blue Jays vs Phillies

When Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was held out of the Blue Jays' starting lineup on both Saturday and Sunday, the concern level amongst fans of the team was high. Understandably so.

Guerrero was dealing with left wrist soreness, the very same discomfort that took him out of action for a brief period last season, including forcing him to skip out on the Home Run Derby.

Out of Blue Jays camp, the only updates we were given were from John Schneider and Vladdy himself, both coming on Sunday. Schneider stated that the day off on Monday would give Guerrero some extra time to recover and that his status would be re-evaluated prior to Tuesday's game.

Well, here we are, and we're happy to let everyone know that you can all breathe a sigh of relief.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is returning to the starting lineup against the Phillies.

With the recently-released lineup, the Blue Jays shared with us that Guerrero is indeed back to the lineup, hopefully without any complications. He is scheduled to hit second and play first base as Alek Manoah and the Jays take on the Phillies for the first of a two-game set.

On the season, Guerrero has been an absolute force at the plate for the Blue Jays, playing some remarkable defense at first as well, even if the defensive metrics may not say as much.

At the plate, he has seven doubles and seven home runs, scoring 23 runs while driving in 21 of his own. His .318 batting average and .920 OPS suggest that he may be returning to his 2021 form when he demolished opposing pitching on the way to a second-place finish in the AL MVP voting.

In Vladdy's absence, longtime San Francisco Giant Brandon Belt, who is playing out a one-year, $10M contract with the Blue Jays, filled in admirably in a solid but short sample size. While Belt has been off to a sluggish start as a whole, his five hits and five runs scored in the span of two games was just enough to instill a bit more confidence from Blue Jays fans.