Yankees still marvelling at 'grown man' Guerrero Jr.'s superhuman night

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BRONX, N.Y. — Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is going to be a problem for every big-league pitcher for a long time, but it’s becoming very clear he’s going to torment the division-rival New York Yankees in a different type of way.

Just as he was on so many occasions in his MVP runner-up season a year ago, Guerrero Jr. is once again the talk of Major League Baseball after a superhuman two-stitch, three-homer performance Wednesday night in the Big Apple.

A day later, the Yanks were still marvelling at being singlehandedly served up a homefield ‘L’ by Vladdy’s bat.

“Pretty impressive to come into Yankee Stadium and do something like that, not a lot of people do,” Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge said. “He’s one of the best hitters in the game in my book, man. The numbers he put up, what he did for the Jays and almost put them in playoff contention, that’s MVP stuff right there. We’re probably going to be seeing a lot of the same thing this year out of him. Like I said yesterday, I wish I was at home watching him do it against the Red Sox or the Orioles and not watching it live. He’s a generational talent. He’s something special.”

The show started early, in the top of the first inning when Guerrero hit a shot to centre field that glanced off Yanks outfielder Aaron Hicks’ glove and had to be reviewed before being deemed his second round-tripper of the season.

In the bottom of the second, a great game in the making became a near-legendary tale when Hicks stepped on Guerrero’s right hand as he beat out an infield single, forcing the 23-year-old to the dugout with a blood-soaked towel wrapped around his ring finger.

But instead of being a devastating and potentially season-altering play, Vladdy quickly taped up and jogged