A night after celebrating an NBA championship, sports fans in Toronto were left holding their breath on Friday night after Toronto Blue Jays third baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. left the game after being hit by a pitch in the hand.
Guerrero Jr. took a 95-mph fastball to his left hand from Houston Astros starting pitcher Gerrit Cole then exited the game in the bottom of the second inning. Fortunately, x-rays were negative and the team diagnosed him with a contusion to his left hand.
Losing Guerrero Jr. for any length of time would have been a major blow for a team at the bottom of the standings and looking for any possible bright spot to give fans hope, now they still have it.
While the talented 20-year-old hasn’t quite lived up to the massive expectations in his rookie season with a .792 OPS, he started to heat up recently with a .987 OPS in the last 15 days.
Guerrero Jr. will likely be considered day-to-day by the team and could be out of the lineup on Saturday against the Astros. Fortunately, he avoided a far more significant injury and fans will still get to keep watching one of the game’s future stars grow this season.