Blue Jays send struggling prospect to Triple-A, but he won't be down for long

Prior to Saturday's contest against the Mariners, the Blue Jays took to social media (X link) to announce that they're shifting things around a bit on the big league roster. Infielder Justin Turner is back from the paternity list, while struggling prospect Addison Barger is heading back down to Triple-A to join the Buffalo Bisons.

Turner returns to the lineup after only missing a few games, as catcher Danny Jansen had recently as well. Both the Turners and the Jansens recently welcomed little ones into the world and as of the last updates, all are doing well.

Blue Jays reinstate Turner, option Barger

This is the second time Barger has been jettisoned from the big league roster, but the first because of his performance. Earlier in the season, he was sent back to Buffalo to ensure he received consistent at-bats. This time around, he's heading to the Bisons with a .150 batting average in 63 big league plate appearances.

That's not to say that Barger hasn't looked like he belongs, because he has - at points. On defense, he's clearly still getting used to playing the outfield corners and he uses his absolute cannon of a throwing arm to nail runners from third base, but there's still some seasoning needed.

Same goes for offensively. Barger has a nice swing and has solid bat-to-ball skills, but he can at times be erratic and, again, could use some additional reps down in Triple-A. There are currently a ton of big league at-bats to go around in the infield, so Barger's stay in the high-minors is not likely to last very long as the Blue Jays continue to shuffle around their 26-man roster.

Barger, Jays Journal's No. 4 preseason prospect, has consistently proven to be a prospect that's not going to be held down in the minors for too long. Some growing pains at the game's highest level are perfectly normal, so there's no need to press the panic button at this point. He'll be back.

Turner, 39, has had a bit of an up-and-down season in Toronto, but he still sports an above-average clip through his first 74 games. The 16-year veteran has five home runs, 27 runs driven in and 31 more scored, along with a .250 batting average, .734 OPS and 111 OPS+, which suggests he's 11 percent above league-average on offense.