Predicting Vladimir Guerrero Jr's Blue Jays call-up date

Vladdy is coming. It might be a few days, it could be a few more weeks, but baseball’s top prospect will play in a Toronto Blue Jays uniform very soon.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. inched one step closer to a Major League debut on Thursday when he returned to the Blue Jays triple-A affiliate, the Buffalo Bisons. He prompted to hit this moonshot over the left field fence.

Vlad Jr. goes yard!! pic.twitter.com/WeBq48sP11

— Bill (@Nikodogpsp) April 12, 2019

Yeah, I think this guy is really for the big leagues.

As he continues to destroy minor league pitching, it’s not a question of “if” Guerrero will get called up to the show, it’s “when”. Here are a few educated guesses about when Vladdy might make his MLB debut.

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April 19th in Oakland

It’s a fairly quick turnaround, but in theory, Vladdy could join the Blue Jays on the road next week in Oakland to face Marco Estrada, Kendrys Morales and the Oakland Athletics.

Teams tend to bring up their highly touted prospects on the road to play down the publicity. This would be as under-the-radar as the Blue Jays could get before the media circus convenes in Toronto.

April 23rd in Toronto

On the other hand, the Blue Jays need all the help they can get when it comes to ticket sales. Outside of the Home Opener, Guerrero’s MLB debut will likely be one of the highest-attended Blue Jays games this year.

Why not lean into the media circus and use it to promote the Blue Jays as much as possible? Bringing Guerrero up to play in the two-game series against the Giants would do big numbers for a typically quiet mid-week Interleague series.

April 26th in Toronto

Or, why not wait an extra few days and promote Guerrero to play on Friday April 26th against the Oakland A’s? By then, the Buffalo Bisons are playing in nearby Syracuse, which is a short four-hour drive around Lake Ontario.

By that point, Guerrero will have spent 16 days in triple-A, which is more than enough time to get acclimated to hitting at a Vladdy-type level.

April 30th in Los Angeles

At this point, if the Blue Jays wait this long to call up Guerrero, they’re just teasing us. The Blue Jays kick off a six-game road trip through Los Angeles and Texas. If anything, at least this would present a Mike Trout vs. Guerrero angle for the Angels-Blue Jays series.

May 3rd in Texas

So long as he’s fully healthy, this is the very latest the Blue Jays could conceivably wait to bring Guerrero up before there’s a full-on riot in Toronto. By May 3rd, the 20-year-old would’ve played upwards of 23 games in Buffalo this year.

The Bisons play 23 games over the span of 23 days, including two double-headers. There’s no sense in running Guerrero out there for all those games, but by mid-April, he’ll be more than ready to do some damage at the Major League level.