PHOENIX, AZ - APRIL 17: John Schneider #14 of the Toronto Blue Jays looks on from the dugout prior to the game between the Toronto Blue Jays and the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field on Friday, April 17, 2026 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Chris Coduto/MLB Photos via Getty Images)
MLB Photos via Getty Images
The Toronto Blue Jays have spent much of the 2026 season searching for answers.
Despite entering the year with postseason expectations and a roster built around one of baseball’s most recognizable stars, the Blue Jays have struggled to find consistency. Injuries, uneven offensive production and an increasingly competitive American League landscape have all contributed to a disappointing start.
Much of the attention, however, has centered on first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
The franchise cornerstone signed a massive long-term extension that minted him as the face of the organization for the foreseeable future. But as the season has unfolded, questions about his production have become impossible to ignore.
That conversation reached a new level this week when manager John Schneider publicly addressed suggestions that Guerrero could benefit from being moved down in the lineup.
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Guerrero remains one of the club’s most talented hitters, but his power numbers have fallen well below expectations as the team at large struggles to regain its American League pennant winning form.
“It’s hard to look at Guerrero’s stats this year and justify the $500-million U.S. contract that he signed last season,” Dan Bilicki wrote for the Toronto Sun. “He has lacked any sort of power in his bat, having hit just three home runs this season. In fact, he hasn’t gone yard in a month (May 17 against the L.A. Angels) and he has yet to have a home run at Rogers Centre this season.”
Those issues have motivated observers to wonder if moving Guerrero lower into the batting order could help, potentially easing some of the pressure he might feel to produce.
During a recent appearance on Sportsnet 590, Schneider was asked if he felt Guerrero could benefit from being moved down in the lineup as he struggles to put together his typical power numbers at the plate.
“He gets it, he hears what everyone’s saying, he wants to have more slug than what he has right now,” Schneider said in response. “He’s the face of our franchise… He’s too good to kind of try to motivate by demoting him, he’s too good for that.”
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“The dude lives with astronomical pressure that people don’t understand,” Schneider said during the Sportsnet 950 appearance. “Just his normal day is different than anyone… The less that we can kind of feed into the narrative of Vlad the singles hitter… I don’t want to add anymore fuel to that fire.”
The Blue Jays continue to view Guerrero as the centerpiece of both their present and future. His on-base skills and overall offensive profile remain valuable, even if the home runs have disappeared for much of the season.
More importantly, Toronto appears to believe that confidence and patience offer a better path forward than a lineup shakeup.
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