Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is on the seven-day IL, and his home run drought at Rogers Centre just turned one.
Monday's off-day marked a full calendar year since Guerrero last hit a regular-season homer at home.
That blast came against the Texas Rangers. Since then, he's taken 333 plate appearances at Rogers Centre without clearing the wall.
He's got seven home runs all season, a number nobody expected from a player carrying his contract and his track record.
Now he's dealing with a concussion, the first IL stint of his big-league career.
It happened Friday against the Yankees, when Guerrero collided hard with third baseman George Lombard Jr. in the sixth inning.
He reported headaches that night. The concussion protocol call came a couple hours before Saturday's first pitch.
He's expected to be out until at least Aug 22.
What former teammates think Vlad needs to prove
Former Jays star Josh Donaldson didn't hold back on the Get It Done League podcast.
"It's easy to be the guy when stuff is going good," Donaldson said. "We're going to see what he's made of."
"He's an easy punching bag right now. You make 500 million and you don't have a home run in the homer dome? He's got to somehow flip the switch."
Russell Martin, his former teammate on the same podcast, echoed the sentiment.
"He's got to put the team on his back and be who he is," Martin said. "There's no time to feel sorry for yourself at this point."
Manager John Schneider watched the collision closely, given his own history with concussions.
"I was kind of looking for obstruction, and George Lombard's a big dude, and Vlad's a big dude," Schneider said. "I think Vlad's lucky he's as sturdy as he is."
Schneider has had seven documented concussions of his own during his playing career.
"Whenever a catcher takes one off the mask, or whenever you're dealing with anyone, you just never know how someone's going to respond," he said.
The Blue Jays sit at 61-64, half a game back of the Texas Rangers, trying to hold their playoff push together. Doing that without Guerrero mashing feels difficult to picture.
Whether he comes back Aug. 22 and immediately snaps out of this, or whether the drought follows him into September, nobody in that clubhouse can say for certain yet.
Will Vladimir Guerrero Jr. break out of his home run drought once he returns from the IL?
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