Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is a rising slugger, and some of his talent was on display during Opening Day Thursday.
Guerrero Jr. went 1-for-2 with a pair of walks in his Toronto Blue Jays’ 3-2 win over the New York Yankees. He laced a single up the middle off Gerrit Cole in the second inning. The ball was tracked at 114.1 mph, which is the hardest hit ball Cole has surrendered in the Statcast era (began in 2015). That’s when you know you’ve made strong contact.
Vlad Jr. just hit a baseball 114.1 mph pic.twitter.com/BzZGHBJSlV
— Brent Maguire (@bmags94) April 1, 2021
Cole allowed five hits and two walks over 5.1 innings and was charged with both runs. Teoscar Hernandez also caught him for a home run in the sixth.
You see balls hit like that by Guerrero and can see the potential in his ability. The 22-year-old batted .262 with a .791 OPS in the shortened season last year. He could be in for a big season this year.
