Don't look now, but Vladdy is performing at an MVP level once again

Okay fine, you can look. As a matter of fact, please look.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. can at times be on the receiving end of some nasty criticism from Blue Jays fans, most of the time because he's not performing at the MVP-like pace he was during that epic 2021 season. In a year where he finished second in the MVP voting to perhaps the most talented baseball player the world has ever seen, he hit 48 home runs with 111 RBI and a jaw-dropping 1.002 OPS.

He's been well above-average in each year since, but that hasn't quite been enough for followers of the club. In fact, he's made the All-Star Game in each year since that 2021 outburst and hasn't recorded less than 30 doubles, 25 home runs or 80 RBI one time.

But because the numbers haven't been quite as video game-like, he's fallen short of expectations. It's time that comes to an end, because in many respects, Guerrero is once again performing at a rate that is sure to get him some MVP votes by the time all is said and done this season.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is once again playing like an MVP

There's really not enough to be said about just how dominant Guerrero has been since the All-Star break. The six-year veteran is actually having one of the best second-half performances in MLB history, at least according to stat guru Sarah Langs.

Dating back one month from Friday, Guerrero has easily been the best hitter in the major leagues over his last 25 games. In that time, he leads all of baseball in the following categories:

• Hits (43)
• Batting average (.457)
• SLG (.957)
• wOBA (.599)
• OPS (1.480)
• wRC+ (302)

He's also second in doubles and RBI, as well as third in runs scored. Oh, and he's striking out in just 9.2% of his plate appearances, which is the fifth-lowest amongst qualified hitters during that stretch of games.

Sure, his overall numbers on the year are a bit inflated by this current hot streak, but Guerrero has been absolutely unreal. As a whole, he's got 32 doubles, 25 home runs, 80 RBI, 72 runs scored and a .323/.393/.557 slash line with a .950 OPS. His OPS+ of 167 puts him 67 percent above league-average and is actually the exact same OPS+ he had in that famed 2021 campaign.

Suddenly, Guerrero is in contention for a batting title, as he's fourth in the league in batting average. He's at .323 and Bobby Witt Jr., who leads the way, is at .349. It's going to take multiple different factors (Guerrero staying hot, Witt cooling off more than anything) for things to work in Vladdy's favor, but the fact that he's even in the conversation is astounding.

Truth be told, the AL MVP Award is likely down to two or maybe three players, and Guerrero is not one of them. Witt has been on another level all year long while both Aaron Judge and Juan Soto of the Yankees are putting together historic seasons as well. Guerrero had a great first half, but he didn't catch fire until recently.

The second-half output he's riding right now is still bogged down by the fact that the sample size is still growing. It's only been about a month since he suddenly became the best hitter the game has ever seen. Let's circle back around to this conversation once the season is over, as he'll have either catapulted himself up MVP power rankings lists, or cooled off to the point where he'll have to settle with "only" being the best player on the Blue Jays.