Will Blue Jays Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Be The First At His Position To Hit An Advanced-Metric Milestone?
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. de los Azulejos de Toronto celebra su jonrn durante la segunda entrada del ... [+] juego de las Grandes Ligas contra los Orioles de Baltimore, en Buffalo, Nueva york, el jueves 24 de junio de 2021. (AP Foto/Joshua Bessex) ASSOCIATED PRESS  Toronto Blue Jays first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is statistically the best position player in baseball right now, and he is by a wide margin. Presently, Guerrero leads the Major League in fWAR and wRC+, and the distance between him and the next-best players is only growing. Following a strong rookie campaign and a somehow disappointing 2020 season (despite still being really good), Guerrero has launched himself into the stratosphere in 2021. While Guerrero is still getting his fair share of national media attention, it still does not seem to be enough considering how well hes performing this season. In 73 games this season, Guerrero leads the MLB with a 4.3 fWAR. His next-closest competitors are Jacob deGrom (4.2), Carlos Correa (3.6) and Ronald Acua Jr (3.6). Even if Correa and Acua had played as many games as Guerrero, they would still be pretty far behind in terms of their total value. What is really interesting about this is that Guerrero is doing all of this as a first baseman. This is a testament to how good he has been offensively this season. As I have mentioned in a previous article examining the decision by the Detroit Tigers to try to develop Spencer Torkelson as a third baseman, first basemen have to be exceptionally prolific offensive producers in order to attain even a 5 fWAR season. Almost halfway through the season, Guerrero is on pace to become the first primary first baseman in MLB history to obtain an 8+ fWAR season. Albert Pujols is the only player to approach these marks, but his numbers were inflated by starts at third base and left field. So far, Guerrero has only played two innings at third base, which is hardly enough innings to artificially inflate his fWAR. Presently, Guerreros 4.3 fWAR is on pace to eclipse the 8 fWAR mark. This would be an incredible feet for multiple reasons. First, it would be one of the most dominant offensive seasons ever. Guerreros 196 wRC+ makes him a 26 percent more prolific offensive producer than the next closest competitor Fernando Tatis Jr. (170 wRC+) and he has played every Jays game this season. Not only is Guerrero hitting well, hes demolishing baseballs. Hes in the top percentile in average exit velocity, max exit velocity, xwOBA, and xSLG. Hes also in the upper echelon of hard hit percentage, barrels, and walks. The dude is a terror at the plate. The other element of this is that his DEF-which is typically a negative score for all first baseman-is close enough to the top that it does not have a significant negative impact on his overall fWAR. Although, it may have some impact. This means that in addition to being the best offensive player in baseball, Guerrero is also one of the top defenders at first base this season as well. He is outperforming perennial gold glove contenders Anthony Rizzo, Matt Olsen, and Paul Goldschmidt. The only two 7+ fWAR seasons from primary first basemen was when Joey Votto and Paul Goldschmidt accomplished this feat in 2015. Guerrero is on pace to blow right past them. If he did, he would be venturing into uncharted territory. While there is still a long way to go in the season and Guerrero has to remain healthy in order to achieve this, we may be in for a historically great season from a player who is only 22 years old. Much of the attention has been given to other young stars because of their larger media markets, or other national interests, Guerrero may be on pace to outplay them all. This is definitely something to watch moving forward as Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hopes to slug his Toronto Blue Jays into the playoffs.