CLEARWATER, Fla. — Off the bat, Addison Barger’s 114.2 m.p.h. rocket on a 2-2 Aaron Nola sinker was both plenty far and plenty fair.
But with a powerful wind whipping right to left at BayCare Ballpark, the ball was picked up by the gusts well above the right-field foul pole. In the view of the umpiring crew, the ball veered foul before passing the pole. But depending on your vantage point, it arguably swept wide well beyond.
With no replay to challenge the on-field decision, loud foul ball it was.
“It got out quick, then the wind took it away,” Barger lamented. “I’m still a little salty about it.”
Still, the 25-year-old shook it off and dug in, fouling off a knuckle-curve before timing up a changeup for a line-drive single at 109.8 m.p.h. to right field. For someone trying to earn his way on to the Toronto Blue Jays roster in the final week of spring training, it was an impressive sequence against one of the game’s better starting pitchers.
“I didn’t feel like his fastball was playing the way it usually does so after that (foul ball), I was kind of confident in expecting off-speed and then just reacting to the heater,” Barger said of his reset in the batter’s box. “He threw me a changeup down, kind of the pitch I was looking for, especially after going pull-side on a heater.”
Like several of the players in Monday’s split-squad lineup that fell 4-2 to the Philadelphia Phillies, Barger is fighting for one of the Blue Jays’ available bench spots. Tyler Heineman is likely to grab one as the backup catcher and Davis Schneider, who cranked a full-count sinker out to right-centre off Nola in the fourth, may very well have the inside track on another.
Daulton Varsho’s uncertain status for opening day will have an impact on how the others play out, as if he opens the season on the injured list, which seems to be the case right now, the Blue Jays could very well split his centre-field duties into two spots.
One of Nathan Lukes and Joey Loperfido, who each doubled and walked versus the Phillies, and Alan Roden, the impressive prospect who started in centre at Dunedin in a 6-5 win over the New York Yankees, could form the left-handed side of a platoon, with Myles Straw, the elite defender and baserunner, serving as the right side.
Such a scenario could leave Barger and Leo Jimenez fighting for the final roster spot, with Barger’s offence and ability to play the infield and outfield corners pitted against Jimenez’s strong play at shortstop and on-base skills.
There are always a multitude of factors that the Blue Jays will consider, including how the season-opening matchups against the Baltimore Orioles and Washington Nationals shake out, but for the time being, that appears to be where the fault lines sit.
On-field performance is one piece, making this a big week for several players awaiting definitive word on their status.
“It’s weird — I feel like this camp went so fast compared to last year,” said Schneider. “There are only a handful of spots left, but I feel like it’s going to come down to the last day, just got to keep going, don’t worry about what decisions are going to be had. Go out there, play and make sure you do whatever you do on the field and hopefully it pays off.”
Schneider, who offers an option for right-handed thump, has enjoyed a solid spring with two homers, three doubles and nine walks in 36 plate appearances so far after a down 2024 when he batted .191/.282/.343 in 454 times up. After the season, he spent a lot of time examining what went wrong on the heels of his white-hot 35-game binge at the end of the 2023 campaign, when he helped the Blue Jays sneak into the post-season.
He spent time watching video of his swing and his at-bats and concluded the issue was “more often swinging at pitches I can’t really handle.”
“I was getting myself out more than the pitcher was getting me out,” the 26-year-old continued. “Obviously there was mechanical stuff with it, this year, my hands are a little bit higher, staying on top of the ball, going back to old-school stuff, straight to it, try not to do too much, trying not to lift it, hit a hard-line drive. I’m still going to be pull heavy. If I hit the ball, it’s mostly going to be in the air. That’s kind of me. But trying to get back to low and hard, really, not groundballs, but just low line drives.”
The way he got to teeing off on a fastball Nola left over the middle of the plate is an example of his adjustments, as after seeing three curveballs during a second-inning strikeout, he went up to the plate in the fourth sitting soft.
“If I was late on a fastball, I’ll shoot it the other way, I fouled off a changeup, I was late on it, but that was what I was trying to do, trying to shoot it the other way,” he said. “And then he threw that (fastball) and I didn’t miss it.”
Spring numbers can be what you make of them, but there’s value to be found in the process that leads to the results.
“I feel like confidence-wise, if you’re going up with a plan and you’re executing it, that’s huge, especially when it comes to spring training,” said Schneider. “Stats do matter to some people, but I feel like spring training is mostly for, if you’re working on something, try to execute it. That was really big for me coming into the spring and I feel like I’ve done that.”
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Same for Barger, who last summer made an adjustment in the big leagues after some initial struggle, moving to a wider stance while scaling back his leg kick, but this spring, at the urging of new hitting coach David Popkins, is working his way back closer to his original move. He’s now 10-for-27 this spring with two homers and two doubles after a slow start.
“Like a breath of fresh air,” Barger said of being encouraged to revert back, “because it’s hard to always fight against how you want to move naturally. It’s not necessarily an ego thing for me, the bigger moves, it’s not like I want to hit like that. It’s just the way I’ve always moved so it’s instinctual. So when guys are saying, that can work and let’s get back to it, do that, I’m like, say less, I can do that.”
Five spring games remain for the Blue Jays to decide where that leads. Barger, like his teammates, is doing what he can to sway the team’s thinking, while not sweating out the wait.
“Just trying to stick to the plan, be consistent in my work and hope that’s good enough,” Barger said of his outlook. “I’m going to be playing baseball in a week, either way. That’s what I’m focused on.”
NOTES: Chris Bassitt looked very much like himself against a near opening-day calibre Phillies lineup that was “really valuable for me to face. … just to what they’re trying to do to me right now. It’s still spring. They’re still working on things. I’m still working on things. But it’s nice not to face a high-A team kind of thing.” The veteran righty allowed one run on two hits and a walk over 5.1 innings with four strikeouts, securing outs with five different pitches, led by his sinker (six) and cutter (four). He finished with 85 pitches while feeling that “mechanically, I’m getting a lot better,” and being happy “about where to start pitches and where to throw strikes.” His next start could be Sunday’s spring finale or could come next week in a minor-league game, depending on how the Blue Jays set up their rotation behind opening-day starter Jose Berrios and Kevin Gausman. “I still want my pitch count to get a little bit higher. I want to be able to bounce back after this one,” said Bassitt. “That’s the biggest thing, obviously. I’m pretty comfortable going into the 90s, but at the same time, now you’ve got to get your body in tune with bouncing back every five days. The pitches, I feel like, are there, but for the most part it’s getting your body back to that every fifth day, throwing a hundred pitches.” … Orelvis Martinez left the game in the seventh inning after getting hit by a 96 m.p.h. fastball from former Blue Jays closer Jordan Romano. The team said he suffered a left hip contusion.
