Blue Jays' Vladimir Guerrero Jr. shows off speed, sliding skills in debut

Feb. 24 (UPI) -- Toronto Blue Jays star prospect Vladimir Guerrero Jr. made his Grapefruit League debut Sunday against the Baltimore Orioles.

Guerrero, who batted fifth in his debut, displayed his speed instead of power against the Orioles in his second at-bat. With runners on first and third and one out, Baltimore pitcher Tanner Scott delivered a pitch to Guerrero. The slugger, facing a 1-1 count, got on top of the ball and rolled a slow grounder in front of the mound.

Scott was slow reacting to the dribbler and Guerrero hustled down the first-base line to beat the throw. The Blue Jays third baseman was awarded an RBI single.

In the same inning, Guerrero came around to score from second on a single by Dwight Smith Jr. Guerrero, instead of using a traditional slide, rolled into home plate.

"I was very happy," Guerrero said. "First game of spring training and everything seemed to go really well, so I feel good. I was just happy to be playing. ... I'm just trying to give 100 percent, just do my job and give the best of me in every single game."

Guerrero's opening at-bat came in the first inning with two runners on and two outs. Baltimore pitcher David Hess fell behind in the count, but managed to force a slow grounder to shortstop for the final out of the inning.

Guerrero made better contact with the ball in his final plate appearance of the game, but it resulted with a fly ball to right field. He was removed from the contest in the middle of the fifth inning as the Orioles cruised to a 9-8 win.

Guerrero had a .381 batting average with 20 home runs and 78 RBIs in 95 total games in 2018. He played for four different teams in four leagues. He is baseball's No. 1 prospect, according to MLB Pipeline.