Now is the time for this Blue Jay to break out of his slump

Bo Bichette suffered a knee sprain on Saturday and is on the 10-day injury list retroactive to September 7. This injury comes as the Toronto Blue Jays fight to hold off the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox in the AL East with two weeks left in the season. Bichette has been crucial to the team's success in a contract year.

Bichette's statistics (.311 batting average, .357 on-base percentage, 94 runs batted in, and 18 home runs) will be hard to replicate. His RBI stats are leading the Blue Jays and 15 more than Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who has the second most. The Blue Jays are 1-3 since Bichette's injury (going into Wednesday), so the team is feeling the offensive void that has appeared, and needs someone to step up.

Now is the time for Addison Barger to break out of his slump

That person is Addison Barger, who is having his worst two months of the season, except for the 10 games he played in April. In August, the 25-year-old hit .211/.250/.333 and this month so far is hitting .200/.346/400. His wRC+ was 60 in July, as well, showing his lack of production. One thing Barger has done well this month is being patient at the plate.

He has drawn a season-high walk percentage (15.4%) this month and has helped raise his wRC+ to 110. He has also dropped his strikeout percentage to 19.2 percent, the second-lowest monthly percentage, only higher than the abbreviated April schedule.

That may be a sign that Barger is starting to see the ball better, but isn't making solid contact. Fangraphs reported a 31.3% soft contact rate in August, instead of medium or hard contact. His fatigue may be a factor—119 games are his most since 2022 (124), although his 2022 minor league season included 16 games in the Arizona Fall League.

So the long grind may be weighing on the youngster. Being tired can also explain why his power numbers have decreased. Fangraph’s home run to fly ball ratio backs this assumption up. In June and July, this ratio was 22.7 and 21.4 percent, respectively. In August and September, the ratio dropped to 12.5 percent in each month.

This indicates that Barger isn’t hitting the ball far, which means he isn't generating enough power in his swing. Even though Barger is feeling the ramifications of playing an entire MLB season, the Blue Jays desperately need him to get back to producing more than just getting on base.

In the offseason, he will need to change up his workout routine to help him be better set up to withstand the strain of playing an entire MLB schedule, but the Blue Jays hope that's not until after the World Series. This means Barger needs to make some tweaks and adjustments to help the team fill the Bichette void and finish the season as AL East champions and hopefully also secure a bye for the Wild Card round.