Vlad Guerrero Jr. Claims He's Working Really Hard to Get in Shape This Offseason

When watching Vladimir Guerrero Jr., you can't help but marvel at his hitting ability, especially when you consider he's only 20 years old. However, another thing that jumps out is...well, just how big he is.

There have been plenty of highly-touted players who never panned out, partly because they never took their conditioning very seriously. Well, Vladdy Jr. doesn't want to be one of those guys, and according to Toronto Blue Jays CEO Mark Shapiro, Guerrero "couldn't be pushing himself harder" in his offseason training.

“It’s going great,” Shapiro told Sportsnet. “Ross [Atkins] is down there now and met with Vladdy. When I talked to Ross on the phone the other night, Ross was blown away. He said he’s getting after it, he couldn’t be pushing himself harder. And that has to continue through the off-season, but I think to set that tone, to approach it on his own, in the end every single player has to take ownership over his own career.”

If you don't believe him, take a look at this noticeably thinner Vlad Guerrero Jr.

Guerrero has plenty of thunder in his bat, and was one of the best players in the minor leagues that we've ever seen, but when he got to the big leagues, his conditioning became an obvious problem that needed to be addressed this winter before his sophomore campaign.

Obviously, we are still at the beginning of the offseason and a lot can change from now until Spring Training, but it looks like Guerrero Jr. is taking the necessary steps to become an offensive force for years to come.