By Canadian Press

Blue Jays introduce Vladimir Guerrero Jr. ahead of major league debut

Apr 26, 2019 | 1:56 PM

TORONTO — Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is officially a Toronto Blue Jay.

The team announced the 20-year-old third baseman’s callup from triple-A Buffalo on Friday before Toronto’s game against the visiting Oakland Athletics.

To make room for the player considered the top prospect in baseball, the Blue Jays optioned infielder Richard Urena to Buffalo.

Guerrero was placed fifth in the batting order for Friday’s game. He was slotted in at third base.

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Guerrero, whose spring training was cut short due to an oblique injury, began the season in the minor leagues and batted .367 with a 1.124 OPS in eight games at Buffalo before the Blue Jays said he would be called up on Wednesday.

TV cameras caught Guerrero arriving at Rogers Centre early Friday wearing a No. 27 Expos jersey, the same his Hall of Fame father wore for eight seasons in Montreal.

Guerrero said he did so to honour his dad.

“Since I was a kid, I was running around with my dad in the clubhouse in Montreal,” Guerrero said through a translator at a pre-game news conference. “I just wanted to bring that back today.”

Guerrero was born in Montreal and raised in the Dominican Republic.

“I’m very happy, very proud of making my debut here in Canada,” Guerrero said.

He signed a US$3.9 million deal with the Blue Jays as a 16-year-old international free agent in 2015.

Toronto fans have been anxiously awaiting Guerrero’s debut since he proved his dominance at the plate at every minor league level. He mashed double-A pitching in 2018, batting a whopping .402 through 61 games, then continued that mastery with a .336 batting average in 30 games with Buffalo.

Guerrero said Buffalo manager Bobby Meacham broke the news of the callup to him with a bit of a joke.

Meacham called Guerrero into his office Wednesday to tell him he had to work on his defence with the triple-A team. When Guerrero told him he understood, Meacham responded that there was a problem — he was going up to the big leagues.

Melissa Couto, The Canadian Press