Remembering other top prospect debuts before Vlad Jr.'s 1st game

The Toronto Blue Jays' announcement on Wednesday that Vladimir Guerrero Jr. will debut Friday set off 48 hours of anticipation.

Guerrero is one of the most hyped prospects ever following his remarkable minor-league career. He's also the consensus No. 1 prospect in baseball, the son of a Hall of Famer, and the presumed franchise savior. He'll start his major-league career in a likely packed Rogers Centre against the Oakland Athletics.

Guerrero is the latest in a long line of baseball phenoms to make their debuts amid incredible hype. So what can Blue Jays fans expect on Friday? If recent history is our guide, it might be wise to temper expectations, at least for one night.

Before Guerrero steps onto a big-league field, let's look back at some of the most anticipated debuts in recent memory:

June 8, 2010: Stephen Strasburg

Strasburg was immediately anointed the Nationals' savior after being drafted first overall in 2009. He made his D.C. debut in historic fashion 364 days later.

With a then-rare sellout crowd at Nationals Park looking on, Strasburg struck out 14 Pirates - one shy of the record in a big-league debut - over seven innings while giving up just two runs.

Although he hasn't quite lived up to the lofty expectations from his prospect days, Strasburg has carved out a solid career. His debut continues to stand out, and it was also an important moment for a Nationals franchise that had suffered through some forgettable seasons after relocating from Montreal.

April 28, 2012: Bryce Harper

At age 15, Sports Illustrated dubbed Bryce Harper baseball's answer to LeBron James, and the spotlight on him only intensified from there.

Two years after Strasburg's debut, the Nationals brought Harper up to the show in 2012. Harper, then just 19, went 1-for-4 at Dodger Stadium. He doubled in the seventh and then notched his first career RBI with an eighth-inning sacrifice fly.

Harper's stardom rose in the following years, and even if he hasn't quite reached LeBron-esque levels of dominance, he's arguably become the preeminent public face of his sport. The 20-year-old Guerrero could easily follow a similar path.

April 17, 2015: Kris Bryant

Before Guerrero, Bryant was the poster child for service-time manipulation when the Cubs left him in Triple-A for less than two weeks of the regular season following a red-hot spring.

The second overall pick in 2013 debuted at Wrigley Field to similar levels of excitement that greet Guerrero now - remember, the Cubs were in year 107 of their World Series drought at the time - and nerves might have gotten to him.

Bryant, hitting fourth, went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts in his first game, and he failed to cash in the tying run after the San Diego Padres intentionally walked Anthony Rizzo to face him. He did look comfortable at third, though, and made a few nice defensive plays.

Bryant recovered from his rough start to win Rookie of the Year, and then he was named the 2016 NL MVP during Chicago's championship season. So Toronto shouldn't sweat too much if Guerrero starts slow.

May 27, 2016: Julio Urias

There were shades of Fernandomania in Los Angeles when the Dodgers summoned Urias, the teenage Mexican wonder pitcher, three years ago.

Unfortunately, the Hollywood script didn't reach New York in time for his first start. The Mets shelled Urias, who allowed three runs on five hits while recording more walks (four) than strikeouts (three) in only 2 2/3 innings.

Guerrero will try to avoid the equivalent of Urias' performance from a hitting standpoint (the golden sombrero?) on Friday.

March 29 and April 1, 2018: Shohei Ohtani

The Japanese two-way phenom took MLB by storm last year, and it all started with a DH appearance in Oakland on Opening Day.

After a poor spring performance led to a bit of chatter that he might start in the minors, Ohtani singled in his first big-league at-bat and finished the night 1-for-5. Three days later and also in Oakland, he made a second debut of sorts in his first big-league start. That was also a success, as Ohtani scattered three hits and three runs over six innings while striking out six to pick up his first win.

Like Guerrero's first game, the buzz around Ohtani's debut(s) was next level, but the circumstances differ a bit because the dual-threat player might have fundamentally changed the game.

April 25, 2018: Ronald Acuna Jr.

Almost a year to the day before Guerrero's debut, Acuna finally reached the majors after enduring his own service-time manipulation controversy.

His debut performance didn't jump off the box score, as Acuna went 1-for-5 with two strikeouts, but he left his mark in a significant way. He displayed blazing speed and raced from first to third in 5.81 seconds after his eighth-inning single, then waltzed home to score the game-tying run two batters later. The Braves went on to win 5-4.