It's hard not to put Vladimir Guerrero Jr. on fast forward.
But part of the job description for Toronto Blue Jays manager Charlie Montoyo is clearly to keep the hype muted. Guerrero is still just 21 years old and this is not Dunedin, New Hampshire or the Triple-A version of Buffalo. Every move in the minors was scrutinized and hyped in hysteria.
The major leagues are a whole different animal. Tuesday's game against the Boston Red Sox in Sahlen Field was the 151st of Guerrero's career. He's had less than 600 at-bats in the big leagues. Obviously the hope is there is a long, star-studded career ahead.
But he's basically played less than a full season. That All-Star Home Run Derby last year was a clear MLB publicity stunt that everyone involved might have wanted to say thanks-but-no-thanks to. It was too much too soon. The kid wowed us all with 91 home runs in an outburst never before seen on that July stage, but it wasn't real life.
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Guerrero had a rough start to this season, but he's been much better of late. He extended his hitting streak to eight games in Tuesday's 9-7 loss to Sox, but this is still a player learning his way. The Blue Jays are two games away from the halfway mark of the season and Guerrero is batting .245 with four home runs and 10 RBIs.
He's a long way from being any sort of star, even on his own team. At this point, Bo Bichette, Randal Grichuk and Teoscar Hernandez are more dominant hitters. Cavan Biggio is more polished.
"We cannot forget how young he is but I know that he can carry us for a week. He can get that hot," Montoyo said prior to the game. "That's what we're hoping for. His plate discipline has been better the more he plays. Hopefully that gets going and he's one of those guys who can carry us. He's looking a lot better."
Right now, however, Guerrero is a mixed bag. He has just three strikeouts during the hit streak and only 17 for the season and that's good. But he also came into Tuesday batting just .158 with runners in scoring position. That's not.
He came up in the first with runners at first and second and scalded a liner to center, but it stayed up for Jackie Bradley Jr. to make a catch. Came up again with the bases loaded in the second but hit into a double play, failing to extend what was a 4-1 Toronto lead.
In the fourth, however, Guerrero pulled a two-out single between third and short to drive in two runs and put the Jays in front, 6-3. It was their last hurrah as Boston pummeled the Toronto bullpen in a six-run sixth that was topped by Rafael Devers' three-run triple to right.
Guerrero is batting .310 during his streak, but he is still hitting too many groundballs if he wants to develop into a big-time power hitter. He's also chasing fewer pitches out of the strike zone this season, which is a recipe for success at this level. Not many guys can come up from the minors and keep acting as free swingers. His father got to the Hall of Fame as a notorious bad-ball hitter, but that's generally not going to be the ticket for most players.
Guerrero has been better working counts this year and laying off tough pitches, notably a couple wicked sliders former Cy Young winner Blake Snell offered up Monday in Tampa Bay. Hitting coaches Guillermo Martinez and Dante Bichette are making that a point of emphasis to him and the message is getting through. Last year, he struck out 91 times, still not a bad number at all for a 20-year old with more than 500 plate appearances, but could get caught chasing pitches.
"I'm working on those kind of pitches," he said through an interpretor. "I know they're going to try to get me out with them. I want to see them and not swing at them."
"That's what he's been doing lately," Montoyo said. "He's been having great at-bats."
Everyone focuses on Guerrero's bat, but there's plenty of intrigue over his glove, too. At 250+ pounds, he just doesn't have the range or mobility to play third base, so the Jays moved him to first. That's a work in progress and the team used him at DH on back-to-back days over the weekend on the turf in Tampa Bay as Rowdy Tellez got some reps.
But then he took groundballs at third over the weekend as well before games while working as the DH. Third baseman Travis Shaw suffered a knee contusion and left early Tuesday. The Jays acquired Daniel Vogelbach from Seattle on Monday and he's another option as a first baseman/DH.
"Whatever the team needs me I'll be ready," he said. "If Charlie needs me at 3B, I'll be at third base. The days I'm DH-ing you go early with (third-base coach) Luis Rivera and take groundballs at third base in case the situation comes."
At the plate and in the field, a work in progress. Easy to forget. Blue Jays fans have no choice but to remember.
