A Certain Beefy Young Blue Jay Finally Socked His First Major-League Dinger, And It Was A Beaut [Update]

Holding to the principle that if a person doesn’t have anything nice to say they should say nothing at all, there hasn’t been a whole lot to say about Vlad Guerrero Jr. since his call up to the majors back on April 26. Entering Tuesday night, Vlad had played in 13 Blue Jays games, and was slashing a rather dismal .191/.283/.234, with just two extra base hits. This is perfectly normal and acceptable production for a rookie over his first 53 plate appearances, but all the same it’s been pretty disappointing for those of us who were eagerly looking forward to many thundering dongs.

This is a long way from conclusive evidence that Yung Vlad has turned a corner, but it’s encouraging: Tuesday night, batting second, Vlad went 2-for-2 with a walk in his first three plate appearances. In the first inning, against Giants opener Nick Vincent, Vlad turned on a 3–2 fastball and, well, see for yourself:

This was a strong and pleasantly noisy dinger, and it traveled an impressive 438 feet into the misty mist of the dusky dusk. And though we had to wait a little longer than we might’ve expected, it was still a historic moment:

Wait, Danny Ainge? The Danny Ainge? Yes, the Danny Ainge.

Vlad is unlikely to follow Ainge’s exact career path, but so long as he continues socking humongous dingers, he won’t have to.

UPDATE: Make it two!