Vladimir Guerrero Jr. doesn’t turn 18 years old until next March. Playing with the Bluefield Blue Jays in the Appalachian League this season, his average opponent was over three years older than him.
That didn’t seem to matter for Guerrero, who skipped right past the common debut season of low-output development and was one of the league’s brightest players.
Guerrero ended his season yesterday with a .271 batting average and .808 OPS. Behind Bradley Jones, Guerrero ranked second on the Bluefield Jays with eight home runs, 46 RBI, and 64 base hits. He also tripled three times and stole 15 bases, but his plate discipline might be the most encouraging takeaway of all.