Jar Jar Binks is one of the most hated characters in the Star Wars universe. And for good reasons. The voice was annoying. The words that surfed on the voice collided to produce buffoonery. His role as comedic element and usher for the young crowd was water on oil for The Phantom Menace. Addison Barger of the Toronto Blue Jays hasn’t been despised like Jar Jar Binks, but he’s been dropped in quite a few leagues on Yahoo and ESPN. Let’s dig in.
Barger is 25 years old, 6′, 210 pounds, and bats from the left side. The Blue Jays selected him in the sixth round of the 2018 MLB Draft.
It took a few years, but the power manifested in 2021 in Single-A, where he clubbed 18 home runs, drove in 80, and stole seven bases in 374 plate appearances. The walk rate was 9.6%, strikeout rate was 32.9%, and the ISO was .243.
As Barger continued to move up the minor league ranks, the walk rate increased and the strikeout rate decreased at the expense of some power. In 2023, Barger racked up 397 plate appearances in Triple-A. The walk rate was 13.1%, strikeout rate was 21.7%, and the ISO was .153.
Last season, he made his MLB debut and hit seven home runs with 28 RBI and two stolen bases. The walk rate was 6.2%, the strikeout rate was 26.7%, and the ISO was .154. The slash was only .197/.250/.351, though, as the BABIP was .239.
Through 177 plate appearances in the majors this season, the slash is .264/.322/.497 with a 7.3% walk rate, 23.7% strikeout rate, and .233 ISO. He’s hit eight home runs with 23 RBI and a stolen base.
The Statcast numbers are maginifique. The average exit velocity is 93.7 mph while the maxEV is 116.5 mph. That puts him 12th and 13th in all of MLB, respectively. The launch angle is 12.4 degrees while the barrel rate is 14% with a hard hit rate of 51.2%. Those place him 34th and 27th in MLB for barrel and hard hit rate.
Barger is a lift and pull hitter, which is good for fantasy. The pull rate is 49.6% while the flyball rate is at 40.5%. The HR/FB rate is 16.3%, but he’s maintained a high rate throughout both his minor and major league career.
The plate discipline numbers aren’t bad, with a 10.9% swinging strike rate and 27.8% chase rate. The contact rate in the zone is 88.8%.
The biggest bugaboo is that he’s currently a platoon bat, and all eight of his home runs have come against right-handed pitching. He has 29 plate appearances against left-handed pitching this season with a .231/.310.308 slash. The walk rate is 10.3% with a strikeout rate of 27.6%. He hasn’t been overmatched, but the Blue Jays are preferring other options.
And that is probably why some dropped Barger recently, as he faced the lefty Phillies trio of Cristopher Sanchez, Ranger Suarez, and Matthew Liberatore.
If Barger has been dropped, I’d scoop him up. The bat speed of 75.8 mph is in the 94th percentile. There’s plenty of red on his Statcast page. Earlier in the season, Barger was hitting towards the bottom of the order. Now, he’s hitting second or third.
Sure, platoony loony bats suck, but that has prevented some from recently being fantasy relevant.
