The Blue Jays’ 2026 season was shaped by injuries, but John Schneider sees one absence as the one that hurt the most: Addison Barger.
Toronto dealt with plenty of health issues across both its pitching staff and its lineup, yet Schneider believed Barger's injury created the biggest void. According to Thomas Hall of MLB.com, the club was expecting major contributions from Barger at the plate and in the field, and that simply never came together this year.
That’s a sharp contrast from what Barger did in 2025. He broke out with a .243 batting average and a .756 OPS, piling up 61 runs, 32 doubles, 21 home runs and 74 RBIs across 135 games. Then he turned around and delivered even more in October, batting .367 with a 1.024 OPS in 17 playoff games, scoring eight runs while adding three homers and nine RBIs.
His left-handed power gave Schneider another dangerous bat in the middle of the order, and his ability to move around defensively made him even more valuable. The peak of that versatility came in the World Series, when Barger hit the first ever pinch-hit grand slam in the fall classic.
Toronto never really found a clean replacement for that kind of production. The team tried to patch the gap with Jesús Sánchez, Yohendrick Piñango, and Myles Straw, but none of them could fully match what Barger brought.
The frustrating part for the Blue Jays was that 2026 looked like the year Barger could take another step. Instead, injuries and then surgery limited the 26-year-old outfielder to nine games. He didn’t produce in that short stretch either, hitting just .045 with a .305 OPS, along with two runs, one hit, two RBIs, five walks and seven strikeouts in 22 at-bats.
If Barger had stayed healthy and come close to his 2025 level, Toronto likely would have had a better shot at reaching the postseason. His bat would have mattered, and so would his defense.
With his cannon of an arm, he could have given the outfield a major lift. Instead, a play on May 9 helped bring his season to an early end.
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