Guerrero Jr. makes highly-anticipated Bisons debut

Third baseman notches first Triple-A RBI

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. drew three walks and hit a sacrifice fly in his Triple-A debut Tuesday night. (Megan Switala)

By Luke Feliciano

July 31, 2018

The Bisons fell to the IronPigs Tuesday night in an 11-8 slugfest but the loss didn't take away from the highly-anticipated Triple-A debut of baseball's No. 1 prospect, Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
Guerrero Jr., heralded for his pure power bat, tore it up at the plate for the Double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats. He amassed 14 home runs and 94 total hits while registering 60 RBI. Most astoundingly, the third baseman hit for a .402 batting average in 61 games.

Guerrero Jr. had five turns at the dish, but only one of them was counted officially. He had to maintain patience as he drew walks in each of his first three at-bats.
"That's what I've been doing the past few weeks, so I just felt comfortable at the plate," Guerrero Jr. said as his answers were relayed through his translator, Rafael Dubois. "When I go to home plate I stand there just waiting for my pitch, and if they don't throw my pitch I'm not going to swing at it," he said.
He had a bases-loaded, one-out opportunity in the sixth and ripped a line drive to left field, but the ball hung up long enough for Adron Chambers to make a diving catch. However, Guerrero Jr. notched his first Triple-A RBI as Gift Ngoepe tagged up from third base on the play.
"He showed a lot tonight," Bisons manager Bobby Meacham said about the young slugger. "There's more to being a big league ballplayer than getting hits… we saw good things on defense…good awareness on a lot of different things and he was patient at the plate too."
Guerrero Jr. flashed the leather in the field on back-to-back defensive plays. He snagged a tough short hop to record an assist on a throw to first base. He also fielded a ball to his right and fired to first for another out.
"I feel really good," Guerrero Jr. said about his defensive showing. "We've been working for that."
Following up a multi-hit game Monday night, Danny Jansen turned on a pitch to deliver two-out, three-run blast to left field. He singled in his first at-bat. Ngoepe went 3-4 at the plate with three singles and Billy McKinney hit an infield single along with a double.