With the season moving toward the MLB trade deadline and Toronto sitting at 48-57, 13.5 games behind the AL East leaders, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is currently navigating the toughest season of his career. Offensively, he has not been the same player who helped the Toronto Blue Jays reach their first World Series since 1993. But Vladdy has not given up hope yet, and he expects the same from his teammates.

“(There are) 58 games left, and you know how baseball is, anything can happen. I know I can get better,” Guerrero Jr. said, as per Hazel Mae on X. “Just frustrating… we’re just going – myself and the rest of the guys – just going to continue to play hard, and we’ll see at the end of the season.”

After dropping the series opener to the Boston Red Sox, the Blue Jays came back to shut out their AL East rivals 6-0 on Saturday. The win marginally improved Toronto’s postseason odds, as the team remains 5.5 games behind the Cleveland Guardians for the last AL Wild Card spot. It’s not enough, but it can definitely be a start if the Blue Jays want to build on it. And Guerrero Jr. has shown that drive with action at the plate.

On Saturday, the Blue Jays’ first baseman drove in 2 RBIs and scored a run, going 3-for-4 against the Red Sox. He also drew a walk in the seventh inning. Though Guerrero Jr. has been getting more hits recently, his homers are still few and far between, with his slugging percentage (.358) suffering a significant drop from last season (.467). He hit his sixth and latest home run on July 11 against the San Diego Padres.

“We all know the home runs aren’t there yet, but with a little click, they will be there at the end of the season. My focus is to keep doing that and keep hitting the ball hard,” Guerrero Jr. revealed, per Keegan Matheson on X.  

While Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hopes for a late-season comeback, the Blue Jays will battle to keep their postseason hopes alive. Meanwhile, the 6x All-Star has asked the Blue Jays fandom to keep supporting the team through the difficult season.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. asks for patience from the fans

The Toronto Blue Jays entered the season with high hopes of a World Series rerun, but several injuries and underperformance from stars like Guerrero Jr. have set the team back. Struggling from the beginning of the season, the Blue Jays have gradually become the worst team in the AL East. Having only an 8.8% playoff chance, per FanGraphs, Guerrero Jr. has asked the fans to be patient with their favorite team.

“Be patient,” Guerrero Jr. advised, per Mitch Bannon of MLB.com. “I know things are not going the way we want it, but I can promise all our fans every time we go out there, we take the field to win the game.

“We’re humans, and sometimes things don’t happen the way you want it, regardless of your preparation. That’s baseball. But I can really promise them, we’re going to work. We’re trying to win some games. I know they’ve always been there when we’re winning, but we need our fan base to be there right now. But because never know; things can change.”

During this Saturday’s win at Fenway Park, Dylan Cease threw a complete game, keeping the Red Sox hitters in check. He allowed only one hit throughout. He holds a 2.46 ERA. Cease’s one-hitter in nine innings marked the first one-hitter complete game for the Blue Jays since Shaun Marcum in 2010.

That was an incredible performance from Cease, and as Guerrero Jr. spoke about change, fans in Toronto could only hope it started with this game.