TORONTO — During his second stint with the Toronto Blue Jays last season, Addison Barger made a series of adjustments at the plate, widening his stance and toning down his trademark leg kick. The idea was that a more stable base would put him in a better position to track pitches longer and make better decisions, and it made some sense. But fighting his body’s natural movements was uncomfortable and produced middling results, which is why Barger, “was like, say less, I can do that,” when new hitting coach David Popkins, after studying his entire career, suggested he go back to his old swing.
“He’s always been very dynamic and athletic. He’s always had a big attacking, forward move. Violent swings. And he just wasn’t a guy that needed to control or shrink his moves,” Popkins explained. “He had a lot of success … so just getting him back to feeling like he’s always been. He’s a meathead. He likes to lift weights. He likes to crush energy drinks and swing hard. It allows him to be himself.”
Barger certainly seems to be finding the best version of himself since his recall from triple-A Buffalo on April 15, getting pushed up to the three-hole Wednesday night in the Blue Jays’ 2-1 win over the Philadelphia Phillies. He entered the game with hits in six straight games and home runs in four consecutive outings, but went 0-for-4 before Alejandro Kirk’s walk-off single in the ninth off former teammate Jordan Romano brought home Vladimir Guerrero Jr. with the winning run.
Some familiarity with Romano, who was dialled up sitting 96.7 m.p.h. with his fastball and while topping out at 98.2, may have helped as after Guerrero’s one-out single, he asked first-base coach Mark Budzinski about the righty’s time to the plate, was told 1.6, and with J.T. Realmuto exiting the game moments before after a foul tip to his midsection, told himself, “I’ve got to take a chance – and I took the chance.”
He stole second comfortably and after Barger struck out in a grinding seven-pitch at-bat, Kirk fouled off three straight pitches before hammering a 97.2 m.p.h. heater off the wall in right-centre for the W.
Though he caught him 80 times while together with the Blue Jays, Kirk said he relied on “the reports our hitting coaches put in front of us, especially the last outings,” to prepare for the at-bat. “That’s my guide right there.”
Guerrero’s approach was to solely focus on getting aboard, and while facing someone he’s played with since double-A in 2018 “is weird,” he quickly added that, “you’re not my teammate anymore. You’ve got to compete against him. He’s still my friend. He’s still my brother. I still love him. But we are on different teams now. So you have to turn that page. He’s your enemy right now.”
Adding to the friends-to-foes theme was Jeff Hoffman recording the final out in the top of the ninth to keep the game 1-1. He took over after Brendon Little got fellow lefties Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber to open the inning, giving up a single on a 96.7 m.p.h. fastball in off the plate before getting Castellanos on a grounder to third.
“When there’s that much familiarity,” Hoffman said, “it just comes down to executing.”
The victory was the sixth in seven games for the Blue Jays (32-29), who got six innings of one-run ball from Jose Berrios. His only blemish was a Nick Castellanos solo shot in the second inning, although he critically worked out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the fifth by getting Bryson Stott on a popper to third and Trea Turner on a fly ball to right.
Bo Bichette’s RBI triple in the sixth scored Andres Gimenez to tie the game 1-1.
Barger’s ascension up to the three-hole comes with the Blue Jays looking to recover some of the left-handed damage missing with both Daulton Varsho and Anthony Santander on the injured list.
Manager John Schneider pointed to his “left-handed bat” and joining Bichette and Guerrero in “getting a chance in the first inning” as driving the decision as “you’re hoping to set the tone. … But also, the guy’s hitting homers.”
“He was more comfortable when he arrived this time as opposed to last year,” Schneider added. “And, I think he’s just really trusting the work that he’s doing, even when he started out a little bit slow for like 20 at-bats. But I think that he believes that this is what he can do and it’s getting to the point to where it’s not an accident. He’s putting together his skills with an approach.”
Getting to this point has required “a step-by-step process,” said Popkins, reverting to the narrower, slightly open set-up from the wider, more static one he finished with in 2024. The dividends began to show during the last weeks of spring training and he could easily have broken camp with the Blue Jays, as some felt he should have.
Instead, he kept refining with Buffalo and in 40 games since his promotion, is batting .266/.329/.492 with six homers, 11 doubles and 19 RBIs in 128 at-bats, a needed jolt for a lineup that struggled to produce in the early going.
“You want to see results from your work so it definitely gives me confidence in the work I’m doing and that I’ve been doing for the past couple months,” Barger said. “It’s pretty big.”
Also big is the way Popkins freed Barger to swing the way that’s most comfortable for him, while seeking little refinements to help maximize the output.
Popkins believes there’s “a giant misconception about guys’ moves or how much they move forward or how they’re going to perceive the ball or how short their swings are,” preventing them from finding success at the plate, which had been a question that followed Barger because of both the leg kick and the way he coils his body before exploding into the baseball.
“Corbin Carroll in Arizona, he has a giant forward move, and it’s just the way his body moves out in balance, and he’s able to perceive balls actually slower than if he were to hang back. His swing works better in that attacking move,” explained Popkins. “Addison is kind of in that similar lane. Now, there’s always too much or too little. There’s always a balance between that we’re trying to keep guys in the middle. He can err on the (too much) side and he actually can see visually the ball better and the swing works better that way.”
All of which brings Barger to this point, with a chance to play a key role in the Blue Jays’ push forward. A month-and-a-half ago, he was another young player trying to carve out his place on the roster and now he’s third in the batting order.
“He’s just fearless,” said Popkins. “I thought when he first came up, the at-bats were really good, he was actually just unlucky. That’s really hard to go through as a young kid that struggled the year before, to actually feel good and you’re not getting rewarded for it. And it’s like the demons come back and tell you you’re not good enough. But for him, he looked those demons in the face and said, I’m just going to keep doing what I’m doing. And that started to become fruitful through his fearlessness and hard work.
“I think this is just the beginning of his journey as a player.”
The Blue Jays, back in on his high-leg kick and everything-on-it swings, are ready for the ride.
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