Fastball

Blue Jays All-Star Joins Incredible Names in American League History w/ Hot Stretch

The Toronto Blue Jays won on Friday night, beating the Oakland Athletics, and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. continued to rake at the plate.

Brady Farkas

Toronto Blue Jays first base Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (27) watches batting practice before a game against the Oakland Athletics at Rogers Centre on Aug 9.
Toronto Blue Jays first base Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (27) watches batting practice before a game against the Oakland Athletics at Rogers Centre on Aug 9. / Nick Turchiaro-USA TODAY Sports
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The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Oakland Athletics 3-1 on Friday night at Rogers Centre. The win moves the underwhelming Jays to 54-62 on the year while the loss drops the Athletics to 48-69.

Toronto may be just playing out the string, but superstar first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. certainly isn't. With another 2-for-4 performance, Guerrero Jr. continued one of the best hot streaks we've seen in the American League over the last 95 years.

Per @StatsCentre on social media:

Highest batting average - American League player in a 21-game span of a season since 1938 (minimum of 75 at-bats)
.522- Ichiro Suzuki (2004)
.517- George Brett (1980)
.511- Jose Altuve (2017)
.507- Roberto Alomar (1997)
.506- Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (2024)
.506- Ted Williams (1941)

Brett and Williams are in the National Baseball Hall of Fame, while Suzuki and Altuve look likely to join them, so this is great company for Guerrero Jr. to keep.

For the year, he's hitting .323 with 23 homers, 76 RBI and two stolen bases. The 25-year-old has done all this through a tumultuous period for the organization, in which they've traded away multiple pieces and Guerrero Jr.'s name surfaced in trade rumors as well.

A lifetime .286 hitter, Guerrero Jr. is well-above his career average this year. He's also posted a .946 OPS.

The Blue Jays and A's will be back in action on Saturday afternoon with first pitch coming at 3:07 p.m. ET. Rookie Yariel Rodriguez will pitch for Toronto while Osvaldo Bido will get the ball for Oakland. Rodriguez is 1-4 with a 3.86 ERA.

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Brady Farkas
BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is a baseball writer for Fastball on Sports Illustrated/FanNation and the host of 'The Payoff Pitch' podcast which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Videos on baseball also posted to YouTube. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. You can follow him on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady. 

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