Blue Jays Teammates Spoke to Guerrero After Base-Running Blunder

Schneider said Guerrero was receptive to their conversation, and the skipper emphasized the effort of Vlad's teammates in helping him understand.

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TORONTO — Manager John Schneider assured everyone there would be no carryover after he called out Vladimir Guerrero Jr. for his lack of hustle in Tuesday’s loss to the Yankees.

Although the Blue Jays skipper had a follow-up conversation with his first baseman, he said the issue was already addressed by teammates after Guerrero was thrown out at second base in the seventh inning.

John Schneider said he intends to remind Vlad Guerrero Jr. of the importance of going full-effort while baserunning: “Vladdy flat-out needs to run harder … that’s inexcusable.”

Adds: “He’s still young, he’ll be fine … but you’ve got to leave no margin for error.”

— Ben Nicholson-Smith (@bnicholsonsmith) September 28, 2022

“[Guerrero] recognized [his error] during the game,” Schneider said Wednesday. “And I think the best part was some of his teammates said it to him. So it wasn't like what I said to him was any big surprise … This team, like I said, has too much talent to let other stuff get in the way. And he realized that.”

Schneider credited his players for handling that issue on their own, since that messaging is “always more powerful coming from teammates than coaches.” Lourdes Gurriel Jr. was one of the players mentioned by name as being one of those influential teammates in the Jays clubhouse.

Gurriel doesn’t come across as a typical voice of reason, per se, on the Blue Jays roster. The outfielder is more well-known for his smile and dugout antics, but, under all that, Gurriel carries a deep understanding of the nuances of baseball.

“His family has been in baseball for a long time, and he understands the ins and outs,” Schneider said of Gurriel. “It may not be the traditional way of getting a message across, but he does a very good job of keeping guys in line.”

The timing of Guerrero’s brief mental lapse wasn’t ideal, Schneider admitted, since the club is at a point in the season where every game matters. Still, the manager understands that players are human beings, and they make mistakes.

With the Blue Jays’ magic number at two, Toronto is very close to sealing the deal on a playoff berth. But closing it out at this point in the season is no layup. Every game at the end of September just feels harder.

Luckily, the Blue Jays have been battle-tested by close games all season—and they’re learning from each nail-biting experience.

“It seems like every game is close; every game is high-leverage,” Schneider said. “But I think the more you're in situations like that, like the first game of this series, it's just good to kind of check that off and put that in your back pocket because it's gonna come up again.”

With a 30-19 record in one-run games this year, Toronto’s done a solid job of competing in leverage situations. There are bound to be more of those as we race through the final week of the regular season.