Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Injury Update: What's the latest on the Blue Jays first baseman?

To kick off the 2023 regular season for the Toronto Blue Jays, there's perhaps no figure more integral to the team's success than first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

Currently, the Blue Jays sit third in the AL East standings, 1.5 GB of the second-place Orioles and 7.0 GB of the red-hot Tampa Bay Rays. A division crown is certainly plausible this season, but the fact that all five AL East teams are above .500 to to start the year means nothing is guaranteed.

Guerrero had appeared in every game for the club to kick off the season, before he began to deal with the same wrist soreness that caused him to miss a handful of games last season. He was a late scratch on Saturday and wound up missing Sunday's contest altogether as he continued to nurse the wrist.

All eyes are on Vladimir Guerrero Jr. as he continues to nurse a sore left wrist.

The Blue Jays are off on Monday and again on Thursday, but the focus continues to be on Vladdy's health and whether he is going to be good to go for the upcoming two-game series against the Phillies.

The latest news out of Blue Jays camp is that this is expected to be a minor ailment that shouldn't result in any serious amounts of missed time. During the series in Pittsburgh that the Jays just wrapped up, manager John Schneider told reporters (including Kaitlyn McGrath of The Athletic), "A lot of [sitting Guerrero] had to do with the day off Monday and just being careful. He felt a little bit better today, and we'll see how he is on Tuesday."

Guerrero himself told Shi Davidi of Sportsnet that he tried to play on Sunday but just couldn't get out there. He specifically points to a swing on Friday that resulted in a pop out to right field in the top of the third inning that caused the soreness to flare up. He says that the soreness he has this time around is somewhat similar to last year's, but last year he was able to play the next day. This time around, he's had to miss time for the first time in the still young regular season.

Through 33 games, Guerrero, 24, has been an absolute monster at the plate, continuing a trend he's shown since he debuted in 2019. In 132 at-bats this season, he has seven home runs, 23 runs scored, 21 driven in, a .318 average, .920 OPS and 155 OPS+. He has been a consistent offensive threat for a Blue Jays club that has no shortage of firepower from top to bottom, and has been part of a three-headed monster with fellow infielders Bo Bichette and Matt Chapman.

For now, this wrist soreness appears to be minor, and the general consensus is that the concern level is low. Hopefully he will be back in action on Tuesday and this can become a thing of the past.