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It’s still a work in progress — as it would be for any young player — but Guerrero is playing his best baseball late in the season, he hasn’t been injured and, as he told us this past weekend, is driven for a strong finish through the final seven weeks of the schedule.

In the Jays’ front office, the emphasis is to continue to maximize his performance and skills, both in the present and future. The next step will be to devise a plan for the off-season to mix rest and recovery with continued development and improved fitness.

“There’s a plan Vlad is working on today and that factors in playing time as well as the baseball goals he’s working on,” Jays assistant general manager Joe Sheehan said on Thursday as the players enjoyed their first off-day of August. “There’s going to be a plan that he will continue to work on after Sept. 30.

“In the off-season, we don’t have to account for fatigue from playing, so the plan adjusts accordingly. Vlad is involved in developing and implementing that plan.”

The latter two points are important ones.

Bluntly, would the Jays prefer that Guerrero was in better shape? Sure.

But it is a delicate topic and balance as the strapping son of a Hall of Famer puts in the work to become more skilled while also staying healthy.

He’s doing all that at his sport’s highest level while also shouldering the heaviest workload of his career. A typical work day for Guerrero and most of his young contemporaries includes infield drills and plenty of time in the batting cage. Then all of that is followed by a game at night.