To be honest, I'm not totally surprised Vlad has struggled this year. He went from that long emotional run in the playoffs last year to the WBC early this year.
Once Kirk is back I would give him a phantom IL break. I'm sure something is barking at him. Call that a "strain". Tell him to take the family on vacation for 3 or 4 days and then get him into the complex to review his mechanics and see what, if anything can be tweaked. We need this guy. Maybe he just needs a reset.
At least he should get to take an actual break at the All-Star break this year.