Vlad to undergo MRI after exiting with hamstring tightness

PITTSBURGH -- They’re the last words you want to hear if you’re a Blue Jays fan.

“Now pinch-hitting for Vladimir Guerrero Jr. …”

Guerrero was removed in the fifth inning of Monday’s 5-2 loss against the Pirates at PNC Park with left hamstring tightness, a surprise when Ty France suddenly strolled out of the dugout and into the on-deck circle following Addison Barger.

“He’s doing all right,” manager John Schneider said. “It was after that stretch, obviously. At this time of year, everyone is kind of grinding a little bit, and that just irritated his hammy. It’s just tightness. He’s going to get an MRI tonight just to rule everything out, then we’ll see how he is tomorrow.”

In the bottom of the third, Guerrero dropped into the splits to make a tremendous pick on a throw from Bo Bichette, which ended the inning. That’s become one of his trademarks as a defender at first base, but he popped right back up and began to jog off the field.

Guerrero went out for the next innings, too, which included a couple throws over to first. Quietly, one of Guerrero’s biggest strengths as a player is that he almost never misses a game, so when he comes out of one, it means something.

“He wanted to test it out a little bit and wanted to be sure that he wasn’t going to really aggravate it. I trust him, and he knows himself really well,” Schneider said. “We can’t afford to lose him for an extended period of time, so it was partially precautionary, too. Hopefully, he’s good to go in the next day or two. He’s obviously really important to our lineup.”

Guerrero has been on a tear lately, completely recapturing the hot stretch we witnessed through the late summer a year ago at the best possible time. He came into this series against the Pirates with a .333 average and a 1.012 OPS over the past 40 games since the beginning of July, including nine home runs and 24 RBIs. He’s always been close, but Vladdy has finally found that perfect balance of game-changing power while still being a true “hitter,” which has always been his greatest gift.

It feels like “good news” here would see Guerrero sit out just another game or two to make sure that he’s 100% past this tightness for the postseason run that lies ahead of the Blue Jays. If this stretches beyond that, it’s a different conversation, but the early diagnosis, Schneider’s comments and Guerrero’s track record give us no reason to think that’s the case.

In the meantime, France is expected to see an uptick in reps at first base and Ernie Clement can slide across to play the position, which he’s done for parts of 13 games this season. The Blue Jays could also choose to use some DH days for Guerrero, though George Springer has looked awfully comfortable in that spot this season.

Tuesday morning will be the first big test for Guerrero, when Toronto will see how he bounces back and receive the results of the MRI. Until then, everyone will be holding their breath, but the Blue Jays are hopeful that they’ve dodged anything serious in the series opener in Pittsburgh.