The Blue Jays announced that outfielder Kevin Kiermaier has been placed on the 10-day injured list with left hip flexor inflammation. Infielder/outfielder Addison Barger was recalled in a corresponding move and will be making his major league debut as soon as he gets into a game. Johnny Giunta of the Gate 14 Podcast reported Barger’s promotion prior to the official announcement.
Kiermaier was removed from last night’s game with flexor discomfort in his left hip. He underwent surgery on that hip in July of 2022 while with the Rays, spending the rest of that season on the injured list.
He managed to bounce back from that procedure and stay largely healthy with the Jays in 2023. He got into 129 games last year, just the third time in his career that he hit that tally and only the second since 2015. That led him and the Jays to reconnect on yet another one-year deal, though his 2024 season has been rough so far. He’s hit .193/.246/.246 through 62 plate appearances and will now land on the shelf to rehab this injury. It’s unclear how long the Jays expect him to be out of action.
Thankfully for the Jays, they have another excellent defensive center fielder who can step in. Like Kiermaier, Daulton Varsho is known for his strong glovework out on the grass/turf but he’s been in good form with the bat this year. He’s hit six home runs in his last 11 games and is slashing .250/.325/.569 on the year overall. He’s spent more time in left field with Kiermaier in center but will now slide over and take the bulk of the playing time up the middle.
The injury will open up room for Barger to make his major league debut. Now 24, he was a sixth-round selection of the Jays back in 2018 but launched himself onto the prospect map in 2022. That year, he went from High-A to Double-A to Triple-A, hitting 26 home runs and slashing .308/.378/.555. After that season, the Jays added him to their 40-man roster to keep him out of the Rule 5 draft and Baseball America ranked him the #4 prospect in the club’s system.
2023 was a bit of a setback, with Barger missing time due to an elbow injury. He only got into 88 Triple-A games and hit a diminished .250/.353/.403 in that time. He seems to be healthy and back on track here in 2024, as he’s currently slashing .314/.435/.586 for the year. He has three home runs and is walking almost as much as he’s striking out, a 16.5% rate of free passes compared to a 17.6% rate of punchouts.
Barger has played all around the infield but has also seen increasing time in right field over the past two seasons, a natural fit for him since he’s considered to have an excellent throwing arm. With Varsho in center, perhaps George Springer moves from right to left on occasion, or Barger simply helps out in left field. If players like Davis Schneider, Cavan Biggio, Ernie Clement or Isiah Kiner-Falefa spend more time in the outfield, Barger can factor into the infield mix instead.
The left-handed bat of Barger will also be a good fit for a fairly righty-heavy lineup. With Kiermaier on the IL, the primary lefties for the Jays are just Varsho and Biggio. Daniel Vogelbach is also on the roster but has been in a fairly narrow role due to his limited defensive value. With Justin Turner the primary designated hitter, Vogelbach has made just three starts as the DH this year, in addition to a few pinch-hitting appearances.
Congrats Barger, time to take advantage of this opportunity. Hopefully he allows the jays to move on from Kiermaier at the deadline
Incoming slash line: 0.220 / 0.306 / 0.370
With the offense so far this year that’s probably a 100 wRC+
Barger is worth a callup, he is a good prospect but I don’t think he will stick the first time around.
I am waiting for Martinez to be called up. He is the one that belongs in the bigs and will stick.
Does not matter who Jays bring up from the minors , the team that Shapiro and Atkins put together in the major leagues is not going to compete , Vladdy looks like he is not going to be the super star he is suppose to be , he is just an average player or even worse , he looks completely lost at the plate and so does Bo , and Kirk (another mistake in keeping this guy instead of younger catcher they traded to Arizona ).Springer getting long in the tooth and is no longer a lead off batter and the rest of the team is a bunch of minor league players management is trying to promote as major leaguers. Without this pitching staff these guys would have as many wins as the White Sox.
That trade was definitely worth. Lourdes is not as good as people think he is.
The trade was a Jays loss. Two things can be true; Varsho is playing well, Jays clearly lost the trade. Moreno is miles better than Kirk. Gurriel is closer to Varsho than people think. Varsho wasn’t worth losing Moreno for.
I’m not too high on Moreno, he’s never going to hit more than 10-15 homers In a season….his defense is very good yes, but i don’t think it makes up for him lacking offensively at the plate. He’s most likely never going to have an ops. above 850. And about gurriel, He doesn’t really get on base well. and has a below average OPS standing around .780. he also has never played more than 150 games. he’s never had more than 33 walks in a season. Besides we still have Jansen who is amazing behind the plate and at the plate. The thing with Kirk is he doesn’t really hit, he doesn’t strikeout much, but he gets pretty unlucky with balls in play. Not to mention his speed does not help anything. but in all I definitely think varsho makes up for them both leaving.
Varsho makes up for very little. One of the worst hitters in 2023 and a month into 2024 does not make a season. The trade was an absolute failure, and it shows with the Jays regressing as a team despite great pitching.
Kirk is fat. He still needs to lose 40 pounds. He hasn’t. Moreno is head and shoulders better defensively and is the second coming of Yadi Molina behind the plate. Do not kid yourself, that trade was a disaster for the Jays and the DBacks do not make the playoffs last year without that trade.
I’m just a coping Jay’s fan lma0
Vogelfat needs to be released.
Could’ve been Orelvis if the Jays were willing to play Cavan/Schneider in LF. But Addison has played well enough to deserve a callup, and has played some OF. Hope he performs so well it forces the Jays to make a tough decision when KK returns.
This also gives Varsho a chance to play CF and show whether or not the Jays made the right decision bringing back Kiermaier. Jays need hitting. For the horrible Vlad play last night, Jays still could have won the game if they could hit.
Orelvis has not been good defensively. And offensively, the power is carrying him but he has a 34.9% whiff rate. It’s hard to project a lot of MLB success with that. Barger’s success has been with better plate discipline and contact and he still has a lot of power too. .352 xwOBA vs. Orelvis’ .190. Barger is the right guy at the moment.
After two innings, it looks like the kid has never been in the outfield in his life. Terrible choice to throw him out there given all the other choices on the roster.
Agree. What is the management thinking. Super thin OF so throw in an infielder out there and hope he catches on?
Barber-minor leaguer
Schneider- “
Clement- “
Biggio.- “
Vogelback. “
Kirk. – useless
Vladdy – not superstar (average player
Can not adjust to pitchers)
Springer -long in tooth
Kiermaier- long in tooth
Shapiro -useless
Atkins – useless puppet
How do you guys expect Blue Jays to be competitive
Jays fan here the craziest thing is almost the whole starting line-up, pitching staff and most of the bench will be a FA by next off season. I believe they should trade everybody this deadline to really kick start a rebuild but that wont happen with the money spent on the team and stadiums the past 2 years. The team will really hit the ground HARD THE 26 season. Bo should be re signed but that wont happen and vladdy isnt worth 300/10 especially as a 1b/dh
in what world is Vlad “average” yes he’s slumping right now but don’t let that fool you…he’s a well above average player.
Ok he has an excuse he has never played that outfield position, in the minors his position is mainly and infielder. What’s Vladdy’s excuse , Bo excuse, Kirk’s excuse ,managements excuse , Rogers excuse in keep those two twits Atkins and Shapiro
To answer your question in the first comment, starting pitching. So far the Jays are smoke and mirrors. Despite the last two nights of errors, Jays lost because they did not hit. That’s on Atkins and his front office.
I had to double check if Barger had played LF in Buffalo as I watched a game he played RF. He hasn’t. Why was he called up instead of Orelvis? Jays could have put Biggio/Schneider/IKF in LF and played Martinez at 2B. That is also on Atkins and his staff.
Where is Votto? What is Vladdy swinging at?Apposing pitchers know or should know that low and a foot outside will do the trick. Bo is not even close to the same hitter this year. I’m not sure what the hitting coaches are doing to the Jays but it is clearly not working IMHO. It’s still early but I honestly don’t see the boys turning things around. I’ve never seen a whole team hit this poorly but for Turner and Varsho lately, in all my years of watching the Jays. I can understand a few guys in a slump but almost the whole team?! Very very bizarre.
Beautiful MLB Ballpark for a AAA calibre team. Shapiro and Atkins duo have slowly dismantled this franchise and are eventually going to destroy the fan base of Canada’s baseball team.
Rogers is complicit. They’ll look to stop the idea of a rebuild to pay for their renovations. After 24 years they should be taking blame for the Jays failures by now.