Blue Jays’ Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is doing Barry Bonds things in the MLB playoffs originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. really can’t be stopped.
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Shohei Ohtani didn’t even have an answer for the Toronto Blue Jays‘ $500 million superstar.
On Tuesday night in Game 4 of the World Series, Ohtani hung a sweeper just a bit up in the zone. Guerrero sent it into the stratosphere.
That two-run home run gave the Blue Jays a 2-1 lead, and they didn’t trail from that point on in a victory that evened the World Series at two games apiece.
If it feels like Guerrero has been on fire the entire postseason, that’s because he has been.
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In fact, only one other player has had a postseason this dominant at the dish, and that was Barry Bonds.
MORE:Â How Blue Jays won World Series Game 4
Sportsnet’s Nick Ashbourne shared this stat on X:
“In MLB history, 334 hitters have come to the plate 60+ times in a playoff run. Of that group, Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s 2025 ranks second by wRC+ (248) behind only Barry Bonds in 2002.”
That stat, Weighted Runs Created Plus, accounts for a hitter’s contribution to an offense relative to the league’s run-scoring environment, and it’s balanced out so that 100 is league average and each movement is one percent. So a 248 wRC+ says Guerrero has been 148% better than league average during these playoffs.
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Bonds in 2002 was pretty much at the height of his powers, when he was more or less breaking baseball. For Guerrero to be on that level is incredible.
The Blue Jays will need to overcome the omen here. Bonds’ Giants lost the 2002 World Series to the Angels. Vladimir Guerrero Sr. hadn’t yet joined the Angels yet. He and Vladdy Jr. were still in Montreal.
This time around, Guerrero Jr. will try and finish one of the most potent postseasons in MLB history with a ring.
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