Vladimir Guerrero Jr. got booed by his own fans Thursday, and John Schneider isn't hiding from it.
The Royals demolished Toronto 13-2 in front of another sellout crowd at Rogers Centre.
After Guerrero grounded out to second in the seventh, the boos came loud and unmistakable, louder than anything he's heard in his career here.
"You understand it," Schneider said. "When you're getting your ass kicked pretty good, they're allowed to have their opinion. But we love their support every night."
Guerrero went 0-for-3 with a walk, remaining homerless at Rogers Centre for another night. He got replaced at first base by Brandon Valenzuela once the game was out of reach.
The loss dropped Toronto to 65-70 and 3.5 games back of the Guardians for the final AL wild-card spot.
Spencer Arrighetti's first start since arriving at the trade deadline started about as badly as possible. Carter Jensen took the second pitch of the game over the right-field wall.
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It only got worse from there. A six-run sixth inning for Kansas City turned a bad night into a rout, and the crowd's anger boiled over completely.
George Springer's two-run homer in the bottom of the sixth gave fans a brief reason to cheer. It didn't last.
With the game fully decided, outfielder Myles Straw pitched the ninth and allowed a two-run homer to Jac Caglianone after getting the first two outs.
Schneider didn't dodge the tougher question about Guerrero's state of mind.
"He's been way more honest with me and the guys than probably he leads on to the media," Schneider said. "But yeah, he's frustrated for sure."
He went further, describing the private conversations behind Guerrero's usually calm public face.
"Vlad's good at lying. He's good at saying, 'No, I'm good.' You have to keep asking him to break down that wall a little bit."
"Telling him it's OK to say, 'I am grinding.' The more you can lean into that and talk to me or your teammates, the better."
"We need Vlad to get going. It's as simple as that."
That's about as direct as a manager gets about his franchise player in public. It says plenty about how much this season has worn on both of them.
Whether tonight's boos become a turning point or just another marker in a lost season is a question nobody in that clubhouse can answer right now.
Were Blue Jays fans right to boo Vladimir Guerrero Jr. after this blowout loss?
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