Vladimir Guerrero Jr. News Surfaces After Absence From Blue Jays’ Lineup

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Josh E. Valdez | Last updated Jul 4, 2025 5:40 PM ET

The Toronto Blue Jays' bats propelled them to first place in the AL East over the last few days, especially against the New York Yankees. They scored at least eight runs in three of the four games in the series and won all four.

It was the first time the Blue Jays swept the Yankees in four games at home in franchise history, and they did it partially without superstar Vladimir Guerrero Jr. at his best. The 26-year-old went 2-for-4 with three RBI in Monday's 5-4 win, but had just one hit over the next three contests.

A health update about Guerrero surfaced before Friday's game vs. the Los Angeles Angels, via MLB.com's Keegan Matheson.

"Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is just a little sore and could be available to pinch-hit," he reported. "Anthony Santander is about a week away from starting to swing a bat again. I’d expect him to need a few weeks to ramp up after that, too, but we’ll see."

Backup infielder Will Wagner will replace Guerrero at first base and hit eighth on Friday. Toronto also transferred Santander to the 60-day IL.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is just a little sore and could be available to pinch-hit.

Anthony Santander is about a week away from starting to swing a bat again. I’d expect him to need a few weeks to ramp up after that, too, but we’ll see. #BlueJays
— Keegan Matheson (@KeeganMatheson) July 4, 2025

Guerrero is slashing .274/.378/.426 with 12 homers and 44 RBI over 86 games this season. The 6-foot, 245-pounder leads the team in OBP.

Southpaw pitcher Eric Lauer (4-1, 2.60 ERA) will start for the Blue Jays on Friday against Angels right-hander Kyle Hendricks (5-6, 4.66 ERA). After this series, Toronto will hit the road to face the Chicago White Sox and Athletics before returning home to play the San Francisco Giants and Yankees.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: