From ScottyMitchTSN: Breaking down Guerrero Jr.’s much-anticipated Blue Jays debut. MORE:
TORONTO — It didn’t matter that Marcus Stroman was on the mound or that Kendrys Morales was back in town.
The buzz. The media horde. The anticipation. The podium appearances by both Vladdy Jr. and his GM, Ross Atkins. It all felt different.“No, never have,” Atkins said when asked about the hoopla in front of a packed press conference room Friday afternoon. “I was fortunate enough to be at Stephen Strasburg’s debut. It was somewhat similar, but this is like nothing I’ve ever seen.”
So much so that A’s veteran starter Mike Fiers threw a first-pitch fastball well off the outer edge, likely thinking Vladdy Jr. wanted to make an instant impact and was going to be hacking.On the next one, Vladdy was hacking in a big way, coming out of his shoes almost while attacking a middle-in pitch at his knees, resulting in a foul ball.A quick look at Statcast showed it was off the outer edge, and the elite pitch recognition of the 20-year-old is already showing.
But instead of a swing and a miss or the weak contact Fiers was hoping for, Guerrero caught it out front and sent one twirling towards the left field wall. It didn’t back Guerrero off enough, though, as Fiers attempted to go away with an 87 mph cutter, which Vladdy drove the other way to within a few feet of the warning track in right-centre field.With Montoyo now able to place a potential cornerstone bat in the middle of his lineup each and every night, Atkins touched on what that means in the grand scheme of things, having a player that instills fear in the opposition.
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