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Vladimir Guerrero Jr. sidelined with oblique strain

Andrew Zuber
Toronto Blue Jays third baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. will spend the next three weeks watching spring training from the sidelines. (AP Photo/Chris O’Meara)
Toronto Blue Jays third baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. will spend the next three weeks watching spring training from the sidelines. (AP Photo/Chris O’Meara)

The expectations placed upon Vladimir Guerrero Jr. heading into Toronto Blue Jays spring training camp this season can safely be called ‘lofty’, if not monumental.

The 19-year-old consensus top prospect in all of baseball came into camp expected to put on a show, and to prove that he was capable of making the jump to the major leagues after spending all of 2018 destroying every level of minor league pitching he faced.

An attempt to secure an extra year of team control on the back end of Guerrero’s contract was said to be the only plausible reason the phenom would not break camp with the big club, but news Sunday morning opens the door for another way out of the conversation for the Blue Jays front office: he may still be rehabbing an injury by that time.

The Blue Jays announced that Guerrero suffered a grade 1 strain of his left oblique in Friday’s game against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

An estimated three weeks will be needed for him to recover from the injury and resume baseball activities. Factor in that recovery timeline and add a possible rehab assignment and a few at-bats to prove he’s back to 100% and voila! The service time issue resolves itself.

Some things are just meant to be.

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