TORONTO, ON - APRIL 1 - First baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. #27 of the Toronto Blue Jays waits between innings as the Toronto Blue Jays fall to the Colorado Rockies 2-1 in extra innings at Rogers Centre in Toronto. April 1, 2026. Steve Russell/Toronto Star (Steve Russell/Toronto Star via Getty Images)
The Toronto Blue Jays are off to a disappointing start in their quest to return to the World Series this year.
After dropping their series against the Arizona Diamondbacks, the Blue Jays haven’t won one since their three-game set to open the season. And frustration is growing so pronounced among fans that even the team’s franchise superstar is seeing a turn.
“With the Blue Jays off to a terrible start to the season, having lost half their rotation and almost half the starting lineup to injury, the spotlight has shone the brightest on star slugger Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who had hit just one home run going into Saturday night’s game in Arizona,” Mike Wilner wrote for the Toronto Star. “That’s the reason, so many seem to feel, why the Jays have been a bottom-three team offensively in the American League. Guerrero is off to an outstanding start, but hasn’t been hitting for power. That lack of pop has a lot of Jays fans and other observers going off the deep end.”
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Wilner pointed to comments posted online by fans who criticized Guerrero’s fielding errors and baserunning mistakes this season. But the slugger is hardly off to a poor start, slashing .315/.419/.411 and leading the team in walks and OPS.
Still, after the Blue Jays extended him with a $500 million contract last year, some fans seem to expect more.
“The lone survivor (among Blue Jays hitters) is Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who is struggling to put the team on his back despite being the 500 million dollar face of the franchise,” Ben Wrixon wrote for Blue Jays Nation. “He needs to do more damage if they’re going to survive this stretch, plain and simple.”
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As concerns about the team’s record grow, it seems that Guerrero will be expected to hit more home runs even if his average is excellent. And the criticism among team fans has pointed out another concerning trend as well.
”The main disappointment continues to be Guerrero who contributes only an occasional single while hitting into (double plays) at an alarming rate,” one fan wrote online, per Wilner. “It must be an even-money bet that if he’s up with one out and a man on first, the inning’s done quite soon!”
With injuries piling up and losses accumulating even more quickly, the Blue Jays have more glaring problems than Guerrero’s at-bats. But anything less than a deep playoff run will mark a major disappointment for fans and it’s clear that no player will be immune to some criticism.
This article was originally published on Forbes.com