Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is embarrassed by his season, according to a prominent Toronto columnist.

Guerrero is hitting .262 with a .694 OPS and a 92 OPS+, meaning his bat has run 8% below league average, the worst full season of his eight-year career.

He's hit just nine home runs all year, including only one at Rogers Centre.

That's a stunning line for a player earning $40.2 million this season, the first year of his 14-year, $500 million contract.

Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun reported that Guerrero has confided in people close to him about how the season has weighed on him.

"Those who know Guerrero best say he is terribly embarrassed by his lack of production and he has grown tired of all the meetings, the coaching, the daily work, the noise that has not resulted in anything resembling success during this wayward season," Simmons wrote.

Why the offseason could get even more complicated

Simmons flagged another wrinkle that could deepen the frustration. A possible MLB lockout starting Dec. 1 could cut off contact between Guerrero and Toronto's coaching staff right when they'd want to work on his swing.

"What complicates the off-season for Guerrero and the Jays is the possibility of a lockout on Dec. 1. If that happens, and the Jays have plans to work with Guerrero to get his swing back, there can be no contact between the player and the team after that date," Simmons wrote.

That timing couldn't be worse for a player looking to rebuild his mechanics before next season.

With six games left, Toronto sits at 77-79, three games back of the White Sox for the final AL wild-card spot, effectively four games back given Chicago holds the tiebreaker.

The math is brutal. Toronto would need to win out to reach 83-79, then hope Chicago stumbles to 2-4 down the stretch, or Cleveland fades to the same 83-79 finish, since the Blue Jays hold the tiebreaker over the Guardians.

Time is running out fast, and there simply aren't enough games left to make the path realistic.

Fairly or not, in a team sport, Guerrero's lost season with the bat is a significant reason this team isn't going anywhere this October.