The Blue Jays’ Addison Barger Is Fully Breaking Out

Stats were taken prior to play on June 4.

The Toronto Blue Jays knew that they needed to add a big bat this past offseason. They needed another legitimate power threat in the lineup besides Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Little did they, or anyone else, know that it would be Addison Barger providing the fireworks two months into the season.

The Blue Jays’ former top 100 prospect has stepped up and has become exactly who the Blue Jays thought, and dreamed, he could be ever since his 26-home run season in the minors in 2022.

When Barger squared up a 94.4 mph fastball on June 1 against the Athletics, it landed 412 feet away in the right field seats at Rogers Centre. It was his third laser-like homer in three days, turning a two-run deficit into a one-run lead.

The blast, which led to the Blue Jays winning their fifth straight game, was the culmination of almost a month of the 25-year-old tearing the cover off the ball.

He followed that up with his fourth home run in as many games on Tuesday against the Philadelphia Phillies.

That two-run moonshot left his bat at 103.2 mph — impressive, but not even close to some of the other bullets Barger has been blistering around the ballpark. He’s hitting the snot out of the ball.

His 94.6 mph average exit velocity ranks sixth in the majors. He’s just behind names like Oneil Cruz (97.3 mph) and some dudes named Shohei Ohtani (96.1) and Aaron Judge (95.6). That’s some heady company.

Barger Had a Slow Start to His Season

As successful as he is currently, it took a while to get going after being recalled on April 15. Barger didn’t get regular playing time, sitting against left-handed starters and shuffling between right field and third base. He posted a .139/.205/.222 line over his first three weeks back in the big leagues.

But it wasn’t because he was overmatched at the plate. He was just a little off, and a little unlucky.

With just a 17.9 strikeout rate, Barger was putting the bat on the ball. He made plenty of hard contact, but didn’t have much to show for it. He had a few doubles and two RBIs over his first 39 plate appearances.

Barger had always shown a good eye in the minors, and now he’s chasing out of the zone less than last season (24.8% down from 30.8%). In the zone, he’s much more aggressive, however. He swung at only 59.1% of pitches in the zone last season. This year, his 66.8% zone swing rate is higher than the 64.8% league average.

However, early on, there were too many pop-ups and fly balls that turned into easy outs. But with a 93 mph average exit velocity and a max exit velocity of 112.5 mph, his .172 batting average on balls in play (BABIP) had to improve.

And then it did.

Barger Tore Through MLB Pitching in May

It started small at first. On May 7, he laced a 107 mph single on the road against the Los Angeles Angels. Two days later, he went 3-for-4 with all three hits over 109 mph against the Seattle Mariners. He set a new career high with a 116.5 mph double. That ranks as the seventh hardest-hit ball in the majors this season.

After second baseman Andres Giménez went down with an injury, a full-time spot opened up at third base. Ever since, Barger has been terrorizing opposing pitchers to the tune of a .330/.392/.625 slash line. He has six home runs, eight doubles and 17 RBIs in 25 starts since that fateful single against the Angels.

That brings us back to this most recent stretch. Over the last week, Barger is 9-for-21, mashing four homers, driving in eight, walking twice and striking out only twice.

“Watching him on both sides of the ball has been really cool,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said after Sunday’s game, per MLB.com’s Keegan Matheson.

“He’s confident as we’ve ever seen him and he’s playing really well at third. It’s really cool to watch this unfold. He’s talented, and when it starts to click like this, you kind of get sucked into every at-bat. You think he’s going to do something. Credit to him, man, he’s worked his tail off and he’s taking advantage of an opportunity.”

Barger’s the first Blue Jay to homer in four straight games since fan favorite Teoscar Hernández did it in August 2021. He’s quickly becoming a fan favorite himself, and he has himself to thank for his success.

Being True to Himself is Driving Barger’s Success

Barger made his MLB debut last season, and over the course of a few stints with the big-league club, he showed flashes of the dynamic hitter he is right now, but nothing really stuck.

He finished 2024 with a disappointing .197/.250/.351 line with seven home runs and an unseemly 26.7% strikeout rate in 225 plate appearances.

Most prospects, even some of the top ones, have an adjustment period in the majors. But why was Barger’s first go-round in a Blue Jays uniform so dreadful? Well, Toronto’s hitting coaches tried to change Barger’s swing last year. It didn’t work for him, obviously.

This season’s dramatic turnaround has come from a change in his stance, toward what proved successful for him before his call-up last year. He’s been working at it with hitting coach David Popkins since spring training, according to Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi.

“Like a breath of fresh air,” Barger said in March about changing back, per Davidi. “Because it’s hard to always fight against how you want to move naturally. It’s not necessarily an ego thing for me, the bigger moves, it’s not like I want to hit like that. It’s just the way I’ve always moved so it’s instinctual. So when guys are saying, that can work and let’s get back to it, do that, I’m like, say less, I can do that.”

Now it’s starting to pay dividends.

Barger isn’t a household name. Not like Guerrero, not like Bo Bichette. Not yet. But if he keeps this up, his name will travel, not just in Toronto and Canada but across Major League Baseball.

Now that Barger has arrived, he has cemented himself as one of the most important bats the Blue Jays have. Whether it’s at third base or in right field, they’ll find a spot for him to keep his offense in the lineup. They need to.