TORONTO – Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was determined not to show up at another Blue Jays spring camp with more weight than he wanted.
Embarrassed and regretted after getting out of shape for the 2020 summer camp, the Dominican slugger worked aggressively on his off-season fitness and said he had lost £ 42 since July last year.
“I came to the unformed spring camp for a few years,” Guerrero told a translator at the Blue Jays camp in Dunedin, Florida. “One day, at home in the Dominican Republic, I sat down and thought about all this. I decided then that I would be ready, that I would prepare, that I would work hard for this year.
“I did it because my main goal is to be prepared and help the team win,” he added.
A thinner Warrior said he felt stronger, faster and more determined.
“I worked hard on my feet, because I really wanted to trust them. Before, he didn’t get on the rails. Sometimes, on the plate, I couldn’t resist to get the ball “, said the Dominican player. “I feel faster in all aspects. I feel great leading the bases. Before, I felt very tired after taking the roll. Now I can catch 50, 60 grooves and feel good. “
Manager Charlie Montoyo praised Guerrero for his transformation.
“It simply came to our notice then. He had a great offseason. All his work paid off. It really looks good, “said the manager.
Guerrero, who turns 22 in March, hit .272 with 15 rounds at home and 69 RBIs as a novice in 2019, but hit his last round at home on August 16 and looked tired for the rest of the season. who lost the games because of his right knee.
Guerrero lost weight before the spring camp in 2020, but regained it after the COVID-19 pandemic put baseball on hiatus for several months. In November last year, the Dominican told a newspaper in his country that he apologized to his colleagues at Blue Jays after reporting that he was overweight in the summer camp, when most resumed their campaign.
“In the last two years, they knew he was out of shape. I didn’t prepare very well and I felt at that moment that my colleagues needed my apologies “, said Guerrero.
After moving from third to first base in 2020, Guerrero reached .262 with nine homers and 33 RBIs, participating in all 60 games of the short-lived pandemic season.
In his winter training in the Dominican Republic and at the Toronto resort in Florida, Guerrero said he was motivated by colleagues such as Bo Bichette, Cavan Baggio and Teoscar Hernández, as well as new free agency employees, including George Springer and infielder Marcus Semien.
Guerrero expressed a desire to improve defensively at third base, where he made 17 errors (the team’s highest total) in 96 games in 2019. He said the Blue Jays taught him to expect to be the first and third in 2021.
Montoyo mentioned that, along with general manager Ross Atkins, he spoke with Guerrero and was told to focus on his improvement efforts at first base.
“My first basic member is Vlad guerrero and my third is Biggio, but if we face a strong weld or something and I want to give Biggio a day off, then Vladdy could finish third. Said the pilot.
“Our main message was, ‘Become the first base of the gold glove and then we’ll move on to the third and see what happens,'” Montoyo concluded.