1 Year Ago Today, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Was Unstoppable

A year ago, the Toronto Blue Jays were in the midst of jubilation after beating American League East rivals the New York Yankees in four games in a best-of-five American League Divisional Series. The Blue Jays advanced to the American League Championship Series, where they beat the Seattle Mariners and won their first American League pennant since 1993.

This year, it will be the Cleveland Guardians and Tampa Bay Rays representing the American League in the Championship Series.

Cleveland advanced to the ALCS after a 2-0 win against the Chicago White Sox on Saturday. The Guardians came back from being down two games in the best-of-five series to win it in Game 5.

Toronto, however, didn't earn even the chance to repeat as Americcan League representatives.

The Blue Jays finished in last place in the American League East, 19 games out of first place, and finished with a 79-83 record.

Toronto's regression was due to a series of injuries and underperformances across the roster, including the team's superstar.

First baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who played this season in the first of a 14-year, $500 million contract extension, didn't have the season many anticipated coming off his great 2025.

In 2026, Guerrero slashed .260/.332/.356 with a .688 OPS in 144 games. He hit 25 doubles and nine home runs with 56 RBIs. Just one of his home runs came in front of his home crowd at Rogers Centre in Toronto.

Guerrero's nine homers were tied for the fewest in his career. The other year he finished with nine bombs was the COVID-19 pandemic-shortened 2020 season.

However, last year was a very different story. At this time last year in 2025, Guerrero was putting on a show in the postseason as a key part of the team's AL pennant race. In the ALDS against the Yankees, he was unstoppable.

In the four-game divisional series, Guerrero hit .529 and hit three home runs with nine RBIs. He finished the ALDS with a 1.609 OPS.

In the playoffs, Guerrero finished with a slash line of .397/.494/.795 with a 1.289 OPS in 18 games and hit five doubles and eight home runs with 15 RBIs. He struck out just seven times in the postseason.

Guerrero will have many more years to have another season and postseason the ilk of 2025. His half-a-billion contract extension goes through the 2039 season and progressively decrease each season.