The Toronto Blue Jays experienced a scare Tuesday involving star slugger Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
The Blue Jays first baseman hurt his hamstring in the top of the 3rd inning against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C. With a man on first and two outs, Guerrero tried to leg out a single after hitting a high chopper toward third base.
The ball’s tricky bounce allowed Guerrero to get on base safely and even led to a run-surrendering error that got Toronto on the board for its first run. But Guerrero was in visible discomfort as he made the turn to second base.
Look away, Jays fans 🫣
— BET99 Ontario (@BET99ON) July 29, 2026
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. has exited the game against the Nationals with hamstring tightness 🤕pic.twitter.com/AyIRTCId0c
Guerrero remained on the field for the bottom half of the inning and even fielded the Nationals’ first out. But the Blue Jays pulled the Dominican-Canadian in the 4th inning due to what the team called hamstring tightness. Kazuma Okamoto, who initially had the day off, replaced Guerrero at first base.
UPDATE: 1B Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was removed from tonight's game with right hamstring tightness.
— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) July 29, 2026
“His hamstring was a little tight, as he hit the base there,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said after the game. “And then he turned into second; it was a little sore.”
Schneider told reporters that Guerrero himself wanted to stay in the game, but the skipper made the call as a precautionary move.
The 2026 season has been a campaign to forget for Vladdy, who entered Tuesday with just 6 home runs and a pedestrian OPS of .700 across 102 games.
