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Toronto Blue Jays MVP Candidate Moving Up Prestigious List in Team History

The Toronto Blue Jays lost to the Tampa Bay Rays on Saturday, but Vladimir Guerrero Jr. continued his ascent up the team history books.

Brady Farkas

Toronto Blue Jays first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (27) wears the “Home Run Jacket” in the dugout after hitting his 30th home run of the season during the ninth inning against the Texas Rangers at Globe Life Field on Sept 19.
Toronto Blue Jays first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (27) wears the “Home Run Jacket” in the dugout after hitting his 30th home run of the season during the ninth inning against the Texas Rangers at Globe Life Field on Sept 19. / Raymond Carlin III-Imagn Images
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The Toronto Blue Jays lost 3-2 to the Tampa Bay Rays on Saturday, falling to 73-82 on the season. With the loss, the Jays are now assured to finish under .500, a stark contrast to their back-to-back playoff seasons.

Though this season will go down as a lost one for the organization, it will go down as a great one for Vladimir Guerrero Jr. The resurgent slugger is going to finish in the Top-10 of American League MVP voting and is hitting .324 with 30 homers, 99 RBI and a .950 OPS.

Furthermore, he just keeps climbing lists in team history.

Per @StatsCentre on social media:

Most hits - @BlueJays player's season:
215- V. Wells (2003)
213- T. Fernandez (1986)
211- P. Molitor (1993)
202- S. Stewart ('01)
200- J. Olerud ('93)
198- G. Bell ('86)
196- C. Delgado ('99)
195- A. Hill ('05)
192- R. Alomar ('93)
191- V. Guerrero Jr. (2024)
191- Two others tied

With seven games left in the season, it's entirely possible that Guerrero Jr. cracks the 200-hit plateau for the first time in his career. He's already recorded his most hits ever in a season, surpassing the 188 he had back in 2021. Furthermore, he's got his most doubles (42) ever in a season and this is on track to be best season average-wise.at .324.

The Blue Jays and Rays will finish out their series on Sunday at 1:40 p.m. ET. Thirty-year-old Ryan Burr will pitch for Toronto while youngster Shane Baz goes for the Rays.

Burr is 0-1 with a 3.72 ERA while Baz is 3-3 with a 3.21.

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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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