The Blue Jays have placed first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. on the seven-day concussion IL. In a corresponding move, they selected outfielder Daz Cameron to their major league roster. To make room for Cameron on the 40-man, Toronto designated right-hander Lazaro Estrada for assignment.
Guerrero exited early on Friday after crashing into Yankees shortstop George Lombard Jr. on a slide at third base. Manager John Schneider initially called it a “precautionary” decision, telling reporters (including Gregory Strong of the Canadian Press) that Guerrero had “a little bit of a headache.” The six-time All-Star went for testing today, and the results pointed to something more serious. He will now be out for at least the next week.
The Blue Jays’ franchise player has been mired in an unusually long slump. He finished April batting .354 with a .907 OPS and 158 wRC+. Since then, he’s hit .230 with a .616 OPS and 74 wRC+ in 84 games. While his bat speed and contact rate remain as high as ever, Guerrero hasn’t been impacting the baseball the way he typically can. He owns a 43% hard-hit rate compared to a 49.6% career average. His barrel rate is below league average for the first time since his rookie campaign in 2019. Perhaps the defining statistic of his season is that he’s yet to hit a home run in Toronto; he only has seven homers on the year, and all of them have come on the road.
Guerrero’s poor performance is one of the biggest reasons why the reigning AL champions rank second-last in the majors in runs scored and wRC+. Even with such a disappointing offense, Toronto is only one game out of a Wild Card berth right now. Yet, it’s hard to imagine this team getting back in the playoff picture without the 27-year-old busting out of his slump. So, despite his recent struggles, the Blue Jays will hope Guerrero can pass his concussion tests and return to their lineup as quickly as possible.
Cameron, 29, signed a minor league contract with Toronto earlier this summer. Mike Cameron‘s son never made much of an impact across five MLB seasons with the Tigers, Athletics, and Brewers, batting .200 with a .585 OPS and -0.9 FanGraphs WAR in 160 games. However, he hit well in 75 games with the KBO’s Doosan Bears earlier this year, batting .287 with nine home runs, an .833 OPS, and a wRC+ 20% better than league average. The righty batter has continued to hit well at Triple-A Buffalo, with a .367 batting average, 1.045 OPS, and 177 wRC+ in 23 contests. Cameron runs well and plays all three outfield positions, so if he can hit enough at the MLB level, he could be a valuable bench piece for the Jays. That’s a big “if,” given his spotty major league track record, but his recent performance in the KBO and Triple-A is encouraging.
Estrada’s DFA doesn’t come as a surprise. The 27-year-old has already been optioned the maximum number of times this year, and he has a 5.54 ERA and 5.93 SIERA (with more walks than strikeouts) in 13 innings of work. Pitching depth has been an issue for the Blue Jays in 2026, but they have a handful of optionable arms who can fill a spot starter/temporary long-relief role, namely Chad Dallas, CJ Van Eyk, and John Klein. A team in need of innings could claim Estrada over the next seven days, but if he clears waivers, the Blue Jays will be able to keep him in the organization and send him outright to Triple-A.
