Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Returns to a Blue Jays Team That Already Packed It In

The Toronto Blue Jays have officially reinstated Vladimir Guerrero Jr. from the seven-day injured list, according to MLB Trade Rumors. He is back in the mix just in time for a weekend series against the New York Yankees.

Returning to this current iteration of the Blue Jays must feel like coming back from a week-long vacation to find out your house has been turned into a Spirit Halloween. Toronto spent the trade deadline shipping out Kevin Gausman, Jeff Hoffman, and Daulton Varsho, effectively waving the white flag on a season that has been skidding off the tracks for months.

"Guerrero recently stated: 'I have to start hitting. I think we’ve been playing good... I need to get hot so that we can keep going and try to make the playoffs.'"

Guerrero returning to the lineup is supposed to be a spark, but his 2026 campaign has been a massive disappointment. As of early August, the face of the franchise was batting just .261 with a .690 OPS and a grand total of six home runs.

For context, he has hit exactly zero home runs at Rogers Centre this season. When your highly touted franchise cornerstone has the same number of home runs in his own building as the fans sitting in the 500 level, you are not going to win a lot of baseball games.

Toronto dropped the series opener to the Yankees 3-1 on Friday night, and they desperately need offense. Anyone eyeing Guerrero's total bases props for Saturday's matchup should probably remember that he is stepping right back into the fire against a division rival after a week of sitting on the couch.

The Blue Jays have two games left against New York this weekend before heading into the final stretch of the season. Guerrero recently claimed the team could still make a wild-card run if he gets hot, but right now, the only thing Toronto is realistically chasing is better lottery odds.