Toronto Blue Jays Addison 'Bam Bam' Barger has arrived

The 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.

As successful as he is currently, it took a while to get going after being recalled on April 15.

Barger struggled offensively over his first 225 plate appearances at the Major League level last season, producing a 70 wRC+ with a 6.2% walk rate, 26.7% strikeout rate, and .154 ISO.

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.

Over the offseason, Barger made a few notable adjustments to his offensive approach, which has led him to start the 2025 season with a 137 wRC+ over his first 136 plate appearances.

The first notable change that Barger has made to his offensive approach is that he has added bat speed this season.

Bat speed is an incredibly valuable metric to use to measure a player's offensive performance, because it is able to become reliable very quickly, and is highly predictive of itself year-to-year, making the metric an ideal measure of a hitter's «true talent» level.

Barger has improved his average bat speed from 74.3 MPH in 2024 to 76.0 MPH in 2025, while his squared-up rate has improved from 23.7% in 2024 to 27.5% in 2025, indicating that he is both swinging the bat faster and making more frequent contact on the «sweet-spot» of the bat this season.

After displaying a swing that was slightly steeper than average in 2024, Barger has «flattened out» his swing to an average 27-degree swing path tilt this season.

Why did Barger flatten his swing path tilt from 33 to 27 degrees? As mentioned earlier, Barger displayed throughout his first stint in the Major Leagues an inability to tap into his raw power in-game due to poor swing decisions and a tendency to swing and miss.

As shown by the heat maps above, Barger displayed a tendency to swing and miss on pitches up and away last season, and since Barger was also generally passive against pitches located on the outer third, this allowed opposing pitchers to easily exploit this area of the zone against Barger, as the result would likely be a called strike or swing and miss.

In conclusion, Addison Barger's transformation offers a compelling case on how slight mechanical and strategic changes, such as adjusting contact/intercept point or swing path tilt, can meaningfully impact offensive performance.

If he can maintain his improved discipline and continue making hard contact out «in front», Barger could solidify himself as a significant contributor in the Blue Jays lineup for the foreseeable future.

When pitchers adjust can Addison Barger make the correct adjustments and continue his new found success?

Tell us what you think in the poll below.

Source FanGraphs, The Pitchers List
Stats Credit: Adam Solorio