After a variety of injuries put the team behind the pack early in the season, the Toronto Blue Jays have been able to stay in the race.
Entering a series with the Houston Astros on Monday, they are 38-39. This has them at third place in the American League East, eight and a half games behind the first-place New York Yankees.
Big contributors like Nathan Lukes, Alejandro Kirk and Daulton Varsho all returned from the injured list in the last month or so. More are on their way back as well.
One Blue Jay who has missed most of the 2026 MLB season is outfielder Addison Barger. The 26-year-old has missed time with ankle and elbow injuries.
© John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images
While only appearing in nine games this season, Barger proved his importance during the 2025 regular season and playoffs.
Over 135 regular season games, Barger slashed .243/.301/.454 (.755 OPS) with 21 home runs and 74 RBIs. In the postseason, he had an OPS of 1.025 with seven extra-base hits and nine RBIs over 68 plate appearances.
Approaching the halfway point of the 2026 season, Toronto received some good news about Barger’s injury status. Mitch Bannon of The Athletic reported that the outfielder will be into rehab games shortly.
If there are no difficulties during the minor league rehab, Barger could potentially return to the big-league club for next weekend’s series at the Seattle Mariners.
With Kazuma Okamoto now the club's primary third baseman and playing well, Barger will likely shift to right field full-time upon his return.
That would mean an outfield alignment of Lukes in left field, Varsho in center field and Barger in right field. That is what the club went with for most of the 2025 postseason.
Assuming Barger is back as soon as possible, then the Blue Jays will soon have most of their 2025 lineup back together. Only one game under .500 in late June, this leaves the team plenty of time to get back in the division race.
