Toronto Blue Jays' Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Hits Another Historic Milestone

By hitting his 30th home run of the season on Thursday, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is in a rare class in team history.
Toronto Blue Jays first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (27) reacts after hitting a solo home run during the ninth inning against the Texas Rangers at Globe Life Field on Sept 19.
Toronto Blue Jays first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (27) reacts after hitting a solo home run 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 shut out the Texas Rangers 4-0 on Thursday afternoon in Arlington. With the win, the Jays are now 73-80 on the season. With nine games left this year, they are likely to finish last in the American League East, a shocking departure from their back-to-back playoff berths.

In the win on Thursday, superstar Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit his 30th home run for the third time, a milestone that puts him in a small group in team history.

Per @StatsCentre on social media:

Smacking 2 solo blasts to help his team grab a 4-0 win vs the Rangers today, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. has reached the 30 home run mark for a 3rd time in his MLB career (each coming over the last 4 seasons). With it, he's now tied behind only 4 others on this @BlueJays franchise list

Carlos Delgado (8) has the most 30-homer seasons in team history while Edwin Encarnacion (5), Joe Carter and Jose Bautista (4) are also ahead of him. Guerrero Jr. also hit the mark in 2021 (48 homers) and 2022 (32).

Guerrero Jr. is having an incredible season that is likely to earn him Top-10 votes in the American League MVP race. In addition to his 30 home runs, he also has 99 RBI. He's carrying a .951 OPS and a .322 batting average. He made the All-Star team again this year and could capture his second Silver Slugger Award as well.

The Blue Jays will take on the Tampa Bay Rays for a new series beginning on Friday. First pitch is set for 6:50 p.m. ET.

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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.