Vladimir Guerrero Jr. only wants to hit real home runs.
The Toronto Blue Jays‘ star first baseman has opted out of the Home Run Derby at the 2021 MLB All-Star Game in Denver, Col., per Sportsnet’s Hazel Mae. Instead, he’ll use the time and energy to prepare for the second half of the season as the Blue Jays set their sights on a push for a playoff spot.
Despite crushing the single-Derby record by hitting 91 dingers in 2019 — an absolute must-watch for pure baseball enjoyment — Guerrero Jr. will stick to hitting as many homers as possible in games that count in the standings.
In his third big-league season, the 22-year-old is currently leading the majors with 23 home runs in just 70 games and 252 at-bats. To go along with the absolute taters, Guerrero Jr. is also leading MLB in RBIs (59), OBP (.440), OPS (1.111) and total bases (169), putting himself in the early running for American League MVP.
With those numbers and that hype, the young phenom leads all players in All-Star Game voting with a total of 1,745,105 cumulative votes, tallied on Monday.
Teammate Marcus Semien is currently leading all AL second basemen, while Bo Bichette ranks second among shortstops on the Junior Circuit. Toronto outfielders Teoscar Hernandez and Randal Grichuk are also in consideration to move on to the next voting round by being in the top-nine at their position.
The 2021 Home Run Derby is scheduled for July 12 with the All-Star Game following one day later.
After two high-scoring wins against the Baltimore Orioles, the Blue Jays are back to .500 with a record of 35-35 and sit seven games behind the AL East leaders, the Boston Red Sox.
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