Blue Jays Slugging Duo Receiving Some American League MVP Consideration
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The Toronto Blue Jays have been a streaky team throughout the 2025 MLB regular season, but have begun to find their footing recently.
A 16-12 May was followed up with a 16-10 June, putting the Blue Jays squarely in the playoff mix in the American League.
Sitting only one game behind the New York Yankees in the AL East entering play on July 2, there are a lot of players who have helped put the team in this position.
Two of them are catcher Alejandro Kirk and first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who have received AL MVP consideration in a recent voting poll shared by Manny Randhawa of MLB.com.
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Both are deserving of such praise given how productive they have been throughout the campaign.
Kirk, who has been known for his defensive prowess more than his bat in recent years, is in the midst of a career season at the plate.
He has a .306/.355/.424 slash line with an OPS+ of 117. Seven home runs and nine doubles have been hit, showcasing more pop in 2025 than he has at any other point in his career.
Hitting the ball harder with more regularity than any other season, his production is nearly in line with what he produced in 2022 when he made the AL All-Star Team and won the Silver Slugger Award.
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As long as his fly ball rate continues trending in the direction it is, those numbers will keep improving.
After a slower than anticipated start to the campaign -- at least by his lofty standards -- Guerrero has found his groove as well.
Coming into the year, all of the focus was on his future with the franchise as an impending free agent.
Those concerns were put to bed when he signed a historic extension, agreeing to a 14-year, $500 million deal to potentially keep him in Toronto for the duration of his career.
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His numbers have been on the rise each month, with his power stroke returning in June when he hit four home runs and nine doubles, driving in 18 runs in 107 plate appearances.
Prior to that, he had hit only eight home runs and eight doubles in 256 plate appearances.
Guerrero is one of the most feared hitters in baseball and is now locked in long-term, providing the Blue Jays with an elite foundational piece to build their lineup around along with Kirk, as both players are in their age-26 seasons.
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