Addison Barger getting hot at the perfect time for the Blue Jays

Every Toronto Blue Jays fan knows how scary Addison Barger can be.

After a monstrous few stretches during the regular season for Barger, he showed what he's more than capable of. July saw him slash .284/.327/.568 with six home runs and 24 RBI for example, quickly becoming one of the most exciting storylines of 2025, in a season full of them.

However, as much as Barger can get hot, the narrative can switch in seconds. Headed into the postseason, he slashed .197/.293./394. with a .687 OPS in the month of September, showing that the highs can be extremely promising and the lows can be quite substantial. In Game 1 of the World Series though, his prolonged slumps meant absolutely nothing. Those regular season numbers are thrown in the trash. He is clearly getting hot at the right time.

Barger caps off a historic sixth inning featuring an explosion of nine runs

A historic sixth inning, featuring nine runs courtesy of Andrés Giménez, Ernie Clement, Daulton Varsho, and Alejandro Kirk was capped off by Addison Barger's biggest swing of his life, and one of the most historic swings in Blue Jays history. On a 2-1 count, Barger sent a grand slam off Anthony Banda's third pitch of the game to the seats extending the Blue Jays lead to 9-2.

What made it even more special was that he did it off the bench, marking the first pinch hit grand slam in World Series history. The ball scorched off Barger's bat at 106.2 mph, and travelled 413 feet. As he often does, he made it look like the bat was as light as a toothpick.

"I kind of just blacked out", Barger said postgame. The 25-year-old had homered off of a lefty just once this season, although the counter move to put in the lefty may have made fans point to a mismatch, skipper John Schneider knew what he was doing, considering Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was on his way up soon after.

A few funny storylines came out of Barger's at bat. MLB Network's Dan Plesac predicted Barger would hit a big Game 1 home run even though he wasn't even in the lineup. "I’m telling you what: He’s going to run into one, and the Rogers Centre is going to come unglued,” Plesac promised. “He’s going to get a pinch-hit at-bat in the seventh, eighth, or ninth inning, and he’s going to send this place into a frenzy.” As we know, he did just that.

As another kicker, Barger happened to sleep on Davis Schneider's bed the night before the biggest game of their lives. The slumber party may have ignited something in Barger, fans would hope so at least.

The sixth inning of Friday's Game 1 was something special, and Blue Jays fans will forever look back on it. The first half of the game cruised by with not much action and a bit of a pitchers duel, with the rookie Trey Yesavage and the veteran Blake Snell pitching as advertised. It seemed as though the Blue Jays were in the woodworks waiting for their time to blow it open, and the sixth inning was just that.

So far this postseason, Addison Barger is batting .324 with a 1.027 OPS and three home runs, not bad for a fringe guy at the start of 2025.