Addison Barger makes his presence felt in his return to the Blue Jays

When the Toronto Blue Jays activated Addison Barger off the Injured List on Saturday (May 9) the hope was that he would be able to inject some life into the lineup. In 2025, in his first full season in the big leagues, Barger contributed 21 home runs with an OPS of .756 in 135 games.

His bat speed and hard-hit percentage ranked in the 93rd and 91st percentiles respectively and while there was work to be done in his pitch selection and chase rates, there was lots to dream on as the left-handed hitting 26-year-old was tabbed as one of the Blue Jays everyday players going into 2026.

What the Blue Jays may have missed the most, though, was what Barger brings to the team in the outfield. With an arm strength rating of 96.5 (99th percentile) in 2025, Bargers arm is a weapon that may have been under valued or under appreciated by many. But after Saturday's game against the LA Angels, Barger reminded everyone of how good of a weapon his arm is.

In the top of the second, with the Angels threatening with runners on the corners Vaughn Grissom lined a ball out to right field. Barger caught the ball and with Jorge Soler tagging from third, Barger unleashed a missile that robbed the Angels of taking a 1-0 lead.

Barger threw a perfect one-hop throw right to catcher Brandon Valenzuela, who applied the tage on Soler to get the third out of the inning. The throw came in at 101.2 mph, from 291 feet away. It was a picture perfect sequence that may have actually changed the outcome of the game. While it turned into a 14-1 laugher by the end of the it, had Soler scored, the Angels would have taken an early 1-0 lead, and forced starter Trey Yesavage to have to continue working in the top of the second.

Yesavage battled through four innings of work. While he struck out six, he gave up four hits and walked two, while throwing 87 pitches. He didn't allow a run, but the Angels consistently had base runners, but finished the day just 2-for-10 with men in scoring position, leaving nine on base.

Bargers return might signal a turning point for the Blue Jays

The Blue Jays defense hasn't been as solid as fans have come to expect. They did boot the ball around a ton in the early parts of the season, and their fielding percentage currently sits 28th in the league at .981, but their defensive fWAR according to FanGraphs is ranked 8.5, which is fourth in MLB. They also have the seventh best Outs Above Average at +5 and a +12 Fielding Run Value which ranks fourth.

Adding Barger's arm back into the outfield should help bring those numbers up even more as the defensive lineup starts to look much more like the team had envisioned to begin the season. As for his bat, Barger showed he's been working on trying to build his confidence in working the count and not chasing and the result was an 0-for-3 afternoon with two walks and a strikeout, with a run scored. Sure, he would've liked to have recorded a hit, but batting second, in front of Vladimir Guerrero Jr., the job is, to get on base ahead of him and Barger managed to do that twice, before the game became a blow out.

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