Certain Toronto Blue Jays fans and pundits believe Vladimir Guerrero Jr. could eventually be moved to first base.
As manager Charlie Montoyo sees it, though, the star rookie will be the starting third baseman at the start of the 2020 campaign thanks to the defensive improvements he’s made this year.
“The last three weeks he’s played really good third base,” Montoyo said Wednesday during an appearance on Prime Time Sports on Sportsnet 590.
Montoyo said the work Guerrero’s been putting in with third base coach Luis Rivera has been helping him a lot. The 20-year-old has 40 putouts, 141 assists and 17 double-plays turned to go along with 14 errors in 74 appearances at third this season.
“He’s made many good plays,” said Montoyo, whose Blue Jays are in Los Angeles for a series with the Dodgers. “He’s got an above-average arm, so he’s getting better and that’s the whole point of this and that’s good to see, and it’s due to his hard work also.”
Guerrero is one of several blue-chip prospects the Blue Jays organization currently boasts.
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” Montoyo said of the young talent in the clubhouse. “I used to be with the Rays [who] have a lot of prospects, but I’ve never seen a team with this many prospects with a chance to become stars some day.”
Montoyo added that the plan for the remainder of the season is simply “letting the kids play so we’re going to find out by next year what we got — and same thing with our pitching.”
The Blue Jays wrap up their series with the Dodgers Thursday before starting a three-game series in Seattle against the Mariners on Friday.
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