Blue Jays need Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to make postseason presence felt

Guerrero’s postseason numbers have been a well-documented issue. In six playoff contests, Guerrero has just three hits across 22 at-bats (.136 average), one extra-base hit, and one run scored. Six games is a minuscule sample size, but Guerrero hasn’t looked comfortable in October thus far.

Despite the postseason struggles and a frigid finish at the plate in the regular season, Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins remains extremely confident in Guerrero making a major impact for the club in the postseason.

“He’s been one of the best players in the game and will continue to be,” Atkins said, according to Keegan Matheson of MLB.com. “He’s going to be a force for us in the playoffs.”

For better or worse, fans usually define a superstar player’s season based on how they perform when the lights are the brightest in the postseason. Yankees superstar Aaron Judge is a prime example of that. Judge hit 58 home runs with 144 RBIs en route to winning his second AL MVP in three years last season. However, Judge’s performance fell off a cliff in the postseason, as he hit just .184 with a .752 OPS across 14 games. Judge’s lasting memory from the 2024 postseason was dropping a routine fly ball in Game 5 of the World Series as the Yankees eventually blew a lead and saw their season end at the hands of the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Blue Jays paid Guerrero $500 million to be the face of the franchise and their undisputed leader and superstar. Superstars find a way to make an impact in the biggest moments. The Blue Jays need Guerrero to put his postseason problems behind him and author a handful of signature moments in what will hopefully be a long and successful run through October.