- In a season that has become all about playing the kids, one of the Blue Jays’ best surviving prospects is taking advantage of the opportunity and, in his third chance, finally showing his stuff in the big leagues.
Addison Barger began this season behind left-hander Ricky Tiedemann, currently recovering from Tommy John surgery, and infielder Orelvis Martinez, currently serving an 80-game PED suspension, on the Jays’ list of young players on the cusp of getting their first big-league chance.
The 24-year-old from Washington state was the first of the trio to make it to the majors, but his late-April promotion lasted barely a week as the left-handed hitter went just 1-for-18.
When he was sent back to Buffalo, he told then-Bisons teammate Spencer Horwitz, “Whoa. That was intense.”
A second call-up in mid-June started much better. Barger had his first pair of multi-hit games within the first week and his first extra-base hit, a double, but then went into a 2-for-28 skid and returned to Buffalo again.
Brought back a third time when Bo Bichette went on the injured list July 20 with a calf strain, Barger has returned a different hitter.
“I’ve changed my setup, changed my hand placement a little bit,” Barger said Tuesday. before going 1-for-4 in the Jays’ 5-2 win over the Baltimore Orioles at the Rogers Centre.
“I’m more wide, a little more closed up. Just trying to … be more efficient.”
Assistant hitting coach Matt Hague, who was the hitting coach in Buffalo last season, believes some of the things that Barger got away with in the minors weren’t working at the game’s highest level.
