Where has Shohei Ohtani (30) of the Los Angeles Dodgers disappeared from competing for MVP? I wonder why this man, once called a “genius hitter,” has fallen.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (25) of the Toronto Blue Jays made his Major League debut in 2019 at the age of 20, and played in 123 games, recording a batting average of .272 with 15 homers and 69 RBIs, and in 2020, he also played in 60 games, recording a batting average of .262 with 9 homers and 33 RBIs. Finally, in 2021, he played in 161 games, exploding a batting average of .311 48 homers and 111 RBIs, showing the growth rate of a next-generation superstar. Home runs, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, OPS, and scoring all ranked first in the American League, but he failed to win the MVP award, behind Ohtani, who caused “difficulty syndrome.” At that time, the MVP race of the two players was one of the topics that heated up the league.
As it turned out, Guerrero would only walk along the flowery path. As the son of Vladimir Guerrero, who was synonymous with hottakers, he was the second-generation baseball player with extraordinary DNA and stood tall at the top level in the league at the age of 22, it was natural for him to have rosy prospects. 메이저사이트
However, Guerrero Jr. hit .274 with 32 homers and 97 RBIs in 160 games in 2022, and showed a batting average of .264 with 26 homers and 94 RBIs in 156 games last year, falling short of expectations. This year is another disappointment. In 29 games, Guerrero Jr. has a batting average of .218, on-base percentage of .323, slugging percentage of .336, and OPS of .659 with three homers and 10 RBIs. This is a completely different step from 2021 when he recorded OPS of 1.002.
The Major League’s official website (MLB.com ) also showed interest in Guerrero’s performance. “MLB.com ” on Monday (Korea Standard Time) presented Guerrero Jr. as one of the seven hitters who are sluggish.
“Guerrero Jr. had a disappointing season, falling far short of expectations last year. He is making a slow start again this year,” said MLB.com , “Although Guerrero Jr. has a batting average of .281 and a slugging percentage of .404 for this year’s fastball, he has no hits in 16 at-bats against off-speed pitches, and has only five hits in 29 at-bats against breaking balls. In fact, he showed the best performance among the three pitching types with a weighted on-base percentage (wOBA) of .350 against off-speed pitches last year, but this year the figure fell to .080 (reflected the record against the Los Angeles Dodgers on April 27).”
In fact, Guerrero Jr. had multiple hits in four at-bats in a home game against the Dodgers on the 29th, raising his batting average for the season from .208 to .218. He hit Michael Grove’s 97-mile (156-kilometer) sinker in the bottom of the first inning for a heavy hit, and Nathan Krismatt’s 92-mile (148-kilometer) sinker in the bottom of the eighth inning for a right-handed hit.
As Guerrero Jr.’s slump deepens, concerns are growing. Since hitting his third homer of the season against the Seattle Mariners on the 11th, Guerrero has yet to add a homer. In April, he also failed to rebound with a batting average of .206, on-base percentage of .294, and slugging percentage of .309 with two homers and nine RBIs. Is this also a “growth pain” that makes him a superstar, or has he been overrated? We will have to wait and see what Guerrero Jr. really looks like.