Vladimir Guerrero Jr got off to a blazing hot start to open the 2022 MLB season. It seemed as if he couldn't stop hitting home runs even if he wanted to. But he has been mired in a slump ever since that incredible start. His underperformance is also a major reason why the Blue Jays have not played up to expectations.

His overall stat line doesn't look awful. Vladdy is still slashing .257/.349/.426 with a .775 OPS as of this story's publication. However, that is a very far cry from last year's jaw-dropping .311/.401/.601/ and 1.002 OPS.

But the slump has become difficult to ignore as of late. Guerrero Jr is hitting an abysmal .100 over his past 20 at-bats.

But slumps happen all of the time. Every player scuffles during the course of a 162 game season. However, there are some concerning underlying numbers that could spell trouble for him moving forward.

Here are the two main factors impacting Guerrero Jr's slump.

All statistics used in this story are via Baseball Reference.

2 Main Factors Impacting Vladimir Guerrero Jr's Atrocious Slump

Hit Something in the Air!

Vladimir Guerrero Jr's underlying numbers are fairly similar to last season, with a couple of major exceptions.

His hard hit percentage is sitting right around 55 percent which is exactly where it was in 2021. Guerrero is walking a bit less and striking out a bit more this year, but only by a one percent difference or so.

The main issue is his fly ball and ground ball rates. Guerrero Jr posted a 25.2 percent fly ball rate and 45.6 percent ground ball  rate last year. This season, he has posted a 52.5 percent ground ball rate and an extremely low 13.1 percent fly ball rate.

To simplify, Vladimir Guerrero Jr is rarely elevating any pitches he makes contact with. And his high ground ball rate takes away his ability to hit for power on a consistent basis.

He will need to make an adjustment if he wants to raise his slugging percentage and OPS. There is no way he will come close to the 48 home runs he hit in 2021 with his current approach at the plate.

Pull the Ball, Vladdy!

The second main issue is also in reference to plate approach.

Some hitters excel at hitting the ball to the opposite field. Or even simply taking the ball back up the middle. Mike Trout is known for his ability to smash the ball to center field, while Derek Jeter and Ichiro made a living out of hitting the ball the other way.

But Vladimir Guerrero Jr has done his damage over the years by pulling the baseball.

Guerrero pulled the ball at around a 28 percent clip in 2020 and 2021. He went to center field at around 54 percent of the time and hit the ball the other way around 18 percent of the time in both seasons. His consistency between 2020 and 2021 was impressive to say the least. And it helped establish him as a superstar.

But his percentages have drastically changed in 2022.

Guerrero's pull percentage is down at around 21 percent. Meanwhile, he is going to center field almost 60 percent of the time and hitting the ball the other way in 19 percent of his at-bats.

Once again, this would be a positive trend for many hitters in MLB. But Guerrero's pop stems from pulling the baseball to left field. And this new approach hasn't helped his batting average either.

So whether he is attempting to change his approach on purpose or not is irrelevant. The fact is that it is not working.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr needs to go back to elevating and pulling the baseball. Yes, that is the exact opposite of what most hitting coaches preach. But Vladdy's 2020 and 2021 numbers tell no lies.