Blue Jays' Guerrero: 2024 'is my season'

Toronto Blue Jays star first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. expects big things from himself in 2024.

"I've said this since last year - that this is my season, and that this is when people are going to know about me," Guerrero said, according to ESPN's Alden Gonzalez.

"It's going to be either 'Vlad Jr. is back' or 'Vlad Jr. stayed behind.' But I'm focused on what I have to do and, with God's grace, 100% confident in myself that this year is going to be great."

Guerrero won the Home Run Derby last season and made his third consecutive All-Star Game appearance. The 24-year-old registered a .788 OPS with 26 home runs and 94 RBIs across 156 games for the Blue Jays in 2023. He was revealed as the cover athlete of MLB The Show 24 on Tuesday.

Guerrero admitted that wrist and knee issues hampered him throughout the 2023 campaign, but he said they're no excuse for his performance at the plate.

"I don't blame that. I'm not saying that because I had some discomfort, I didn't do my job," Guerrero said. "But that is one of the things that we've focused on this offseason in trying to improve each of the things that bothered me last year."

He added that he feels fully healthy as spring training approaches. "I feel 100%," Guerrero said. "And I feel 150% about getting back to who I was."

Guerrero is under team control for two more seasons before he's scheduled to reach free agency at the conclusion of 2025. The Blue Jays and Guerrero were unable to agree on a contract for 2024 and are scheduled to go to an arbitration hearing in February.