![\"Toronto](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/GettyImages-2244537804-e1769526959738.jpg\")
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\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGetty\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Blue Jays get surprise prediction on Addison Barger.<\/p>\n
The Toronto Blue Jays<\/a> didn\u2019t land a top free agent hitter despite showing interest in Kyle Tucker and Bo Bichette.<\/p>\n With the Blue Jays not landing either, Toronto will rely on its own players to take a leap forward, like Addison Barger, who can play third base and right field. Barger is a masher who hits right-handers well and was a surprise player in 2025.<\/p>\n Barger is now expected to be an everyday player for Toronto in 2026. MLB.com\u2019s David Adler predicts the slugger will have a season like Geraldo Perdomo of the Arizona Diamondbacks<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cBarger was an important piece of the Blue Jays\u2019 deep lineup that raked its way to the American League pennant last season,\u201d Adler wrote<\/a>. \u201cBut he doesn\u2019t have the star power of his teammates on that run like Vladimir Guerrero Jr., George Springer and Bo Bichette.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s similar to Perdomo in Arizona, who started the year overshadowed in the same lineup as Ketel Marte, Corbin Carroll and Eugenio Su\u00e1rez but ended up as a top-five MVP finisher in the National League.\u201d<\/p>\n Perdomo is coming off a stellar season where he hit .290 with 20 home runs and 100 RBIs. If Barger can even come close to that, it would be a major addition to Toronto\u2019s lineup.<\/p>\n Barger\u2019s Analytics Show Promise<\/p>\n Part of the reason why Adler believes Barger will be key is due to his analytics and underlying stats.<\/p>\n The MLB analyst believes Barger\u2019s stats last season show plenty of promise, and with minor adjustments over a full season, he can be an elite hitter for the Blue Jays.<\/p>\n \u201cBarger is also young (he just turned 26), and if you look at his underlying stats, there\u2019s a lot to like going forward in 2026,\u201d Adler wrote. \u201cHe has top-tier bat speed (75.9 mph, in the 93rd percentile of MLB), a top-tier hard-hit rate (51%, in the 91st percentile), and strong barrel rates and expected slugging numbers.<\/p>\n \u201cHe also hits the ball in the launch-angle sweet spot a lot, and he pulls the ball in the air a lot, meaning Barger hits the right type of line drives and fly balls to produce extra-base hits and home runs.\u201d<\/p>\n Barger hit .243 with 21 home runs and 74 RBIs<\/a> in his first full MLB season as he appeared in 135 games. In the playoffs, he hit .367 with 3 home runs and 9 RBIs.<\/p>\n Blue Jays Offseason Likely Over<\/p>\n Toronto had an active offseason, as the focus was on pitching.<\/p>\n The Blue Jays signed starters Dylan Cease and Cody Ponce, and added reliever Tyler Rogers. Although Toronto did sign Kazuma Okamoto to start at third, the team could use another bat. But, general manager Ross Atkins seems confident enough in the likes of Barger and Ernie Clement to continue their success.<\/p>\n With that, Blue Jays insider Mitch Bannon believes the offseason moves<\/a> are likely over with.<\/p>\n \u201cIn short, another major move appears unlikely for the Jays. However, they\u2019ve surprised before. Toronto\u2019s pitching staff appears essentially set,\u201d Bannon wrote<\/a>. \u201cThe Jays also project to have at least a two-win player (a solid starter or better) at every offensive position except left field. Even in left, they can dream of a Santander rebound.<\/p>\n \u201cBarring a lineup-shifting trade, any incoming player would seemingly be a significant upgrade over Santander and Nathan Lukes. There just isn\u2019t room (or need) for a mid-tier addition, and there aren\u2019t many elite options left.\u201d<\/p>\n The Blue Jays\u00a0have the fourth-best odds<\/a>\u00a0to win the World Series at +1400.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tCole Shelton<\/a> Cole Shelton covers the NHL, MLB and Cleveland Browns for Heavy.com. He has covered pro and college sports since 2016, including bylines at BJ Penn, USA Today, SB Nation, Rotowire, Canadian Baseball Network and more. More about Cole Shelton<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tMore Heavy on Blue Jays\n\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tLoading more stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty Blue Jays get surprise prediction on Addison Barger. The Toronto Blue Jays didn\u2019t land a top free…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":433060,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[363,99],"class_list":["post-433059","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-mlb","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/433059","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=433059"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/433059\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/433060"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=433059"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=433059"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=433059"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}