“Barger” rhymes with “larger”, just look at his arms!
The Blue Jays have recalled infielder Addison Barger from triple-A Buffalo, a move which was first reported by Gate 14’s Johnny Giunta and confirmed by Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith. The corresponding move may be the placement of Kevin Kiermaier on the 10-day injured list after he left Tuesday night’s game against the Royals with right hip flexor discomfort.
Barger, 24, was selected in the sixth round of the 2018 draft from a Tampa-area high school and signed with the Blue Jays for a $271,100 bonus. While he may have grown up in Florida, Barger was born in Bellevue, Washington and is a big Ichiro fan. The natural right hander picked up switch hitting to emulate his left-handed hitting hero as a 10-year-old before abandoning hitting from the right side entirely in high school.
His name rhymes with the word “larger”, which you are reminded of whenever you look at his arms.
In 19 games with the Buffalo Bisons, Barger hit three homers and 10 doubles, batting .314/.435/.586 with a good 15:14 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Despite those impressive hitting stats, Barger has only been the third best hitter on that team, after Orelvis Martinez and Will Robertson (with Spencer Horwitz trailing slightly behind at fourth). The Bisons’ loss is the Blue Jays’ gain: Nicholson-Smith reports that Barger will be active for Wednesday night’s game (first pitch 7:40 Eastern) against the Royals.
LET’S GO BOYS!
2 run home run for BARGER pic.twitter.com/cYzmVzDxQy
— Buffalo Bisons (@BuffaloBisons) April 20, 2024
When Barger makes his major league debut, he will look to bring some much needed power from the left side to a Toronto club that has not scored more than five runs since April 6.