Vlad Jr. and Blue Jays Schadenfreude

[Moose Milligan]

Well, well, well.  After an underwhelming rookie year where he had a .772 OPS, Vlad Jr is off to a slow start in 2020.  He's hitting .240 and his .296 OBP and .380 SLG add up to a .676 OPS.

While it is a small sample size for 2020, he's now accumulated 136 games in the majors and 568 plate appearances.  We've not seen true glimpses of the 80 hit tool/70 power that all the writers and scouts have been absolutely giddy about.

According to this article, he can't get the ball in the air:

Quote

The problem: Vlad Jr. keeps hitting the ball on the ground. The two doubles Tuesday night were grounders down the line, and thus far 18 of his 25 batted balls this season have been on the ground. His 71.0 percent ground ball rate is fifth highest in baseball and his average 4.0-degree launch angle is impossibly low. That's slap-hitting speedster territory (Jarrod Dyson is at 5.2 degrees, for example). Guerrero's career spray chart is not one of a power hitter:

https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/blue-jays-vladimir-guerrero-jr-being-held-back-by-inability-to-get-the-ball-airborne/

Not much pleases me more than to see an absurdly hyped prospect of a division rival struggle out of the gate.  The article fairly and correctly points out that guys like Javy Baez, Rafael Devers and Yoan Moncada took a few seasons to get acclimated before producing.  So I'm not saying he's a bust, it's still way early to tell.

But it'd be awesome if he turns out to be one.

[Can_of_corn]

They've moved him off third base as well.  Miguel Cabrera was still at third through his age 30 season.

[ArtVanDelay]

Hate to do an OFFNY-style thread resurrection, but this seemed like a good place to mention that Jays rookie Davis Schneider has a higher fWAR in 3 games (0.6) than Vlad does all season (0.3). 

Edited August 7, 2023 by ArtVanDelay

[RZNJ]

Vlad Jr. was a hitter you feared as recently as last year.  He looks bad this year.