Addison Barger was a sixth-round pick in the 2018 draft (he dropped that far because he was committed to the University of Florida). He didn’t impress with the bat until 2022, but then he hit .308/.378/.555 with 26 home runs in 124 games, mainly with the Dunedin Blue Jays.
Unfortunately, he exceeded rookie limits last season, or he’d have a shot at votes for Rookie of the Year.
| Age | WAR | G | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | CS | BB | SO | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS | OPS+ | GIDP | HBP | SF | IBB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25 | 1.3 | 59 | 218 | 200 | 30 | 52 | 18 | 0 | 9 | 26 | 1 | 0 | 17 | 53 | .260 | .321 | .485 | .806 | 122 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
He hit a high mark for OPS on June 18th at .850. It has dropped a bit since then.
Baseball Reference has him at a 1.3 WAR. FanGraphs 1.8.
As you know, he’s up near the top of the league in bat speed (95th percentile) and Hard Hit% % (93rd percentile).
But then Chase% % (46th percentile) and strikeout% % (24.3 percentile) aren’t as good.
Defensively, he’s good at third base (+2 OAA, in just 292 innings). And ok in the outfield (-1).
Baseball Savant has him at the 77th percentile for range and 100th for arm strength. I like him at third base, as we get to see his arm strength more often. But he seems one in the right field, too. If we hadn’t picked up Andrés Giménez, he could play third, and Ernie Clement could play second every day, and we’d likely be better off.
He’s a decent base runner. Fangraphs has him at +0.2 baserunning, and Baseball Savant has his sprint speed at the 64th percentile.