Addison Barger, 2026 Fantasy Baseball Sleeper

Did I find myself crushing a bit on Addison Barger in the postseason? Is that how we ended up here? Yeah, maybe a little bit. In case you missed it:

ADDISON BARGER LEAVES THE YARD! #ALCS pic.twitter.com/nulOn0Wugg

— MLB (@MLB) October 20, 2025

Logan Gilbert is no joke. Granted, any pitcher can get any hitter and vice versa. Just because Gilbert’s an ace and Barger homered off him doesn’t mean he will do that to everyone. It does make me want to watch that clip repeatedly. [two hours later] Okay, we can move on. Addison Barger zoomed through the minors. Seemed to be something special. Here’s what Itch said three (!!!) years ago, “Barger enjoyed a dream season in 2022, thriving at three levels and setting himself for a big league gig in 2023. His wRC+ scores of 149, 147, 192 tell the story of a season that ended with eight molten-hot games in Triple-A. A left-handed hitter at 6′ 0″ 175 lbs, Barger cut his strikeouts at each new level, which allowed the solid natural power to play in game. He was a sixth round pick out of high school in 2018. Real developmental win for the Jays. Feels a little underrated in a general fantasy sense, and if Grey had any sense, he’d look over his shoulder.” I am genuinely frightened. So, then what happened with Barger? Injuries derailed, and he struggled to get right-sided from the, uh, left side. Last year Barger went 61/21/74/.243/4 in 460 ABs and has 3rd base eligibility so he’s, like, a top three 3rd baseman, right? I’m only half-kidding. No one will ever get me to confess which half is the joke. So, what can we expect from Addison Barger for 2026 fantasy baseball and what makes him a sleeper?

PSYCHE! I’m currently rolling out my 2026 fantasy baseball rankings on the Patreon. Don’t wait for the rankings to come out next month. Anyway II, the Addison Barger sleeper:

Addison Barger did struggle against lefties. In 83 ABs, he went .217 with one homer and one run. Wonder how he acquired that run? Hmm…Any hoo! That line sucks. He hit .143 the year before vs. lefties. Jays don’t really have an obvious platoon guy for him, but I don’t see that continuing. They’ll make an in-house guy his platoon partner or find someone outside and bring them in. That’s fine! No, really, I’m not just saying it. You’re better off a lefty, who can’t hit lefties, platooned out vs. facing them and struggling. Do you really want a .200 average from him in 100 or more at-bats? No, of course not. Platooning him out and get someone better in there. The thing with that is, if he hits as well as I think he can vs. righties, maybe his confidence builds vs. lefties and he gets better vs. them.

So, bad news out of the way, everything else is pretty. He had a max EV of 116.5 MPH. That was 17th best in the majors. The only people above him with major issues are because of strikeouts (Oneil Cruz) or Launch Angle (Ryan Mountcastle, Jordan Walker). His average EV was 91.7 MPH, which is top 35 in the majors, tied with Jarren Duran and Jo Adell. His HardHit% was 51, which was top 23, tied with Nick Kurtz. He had a 24.1 K% and 7.2 BB%, so he takes walks and doesn’t strikeout a ton.

As you see in the opening clip, his power is easy. Was graded as a 60-grade power guy in the minors, and hit 26 homers and .308 in the minors in 2022 in 467 ABs, before the injuries briefly sidetracked his story. He just hit 21 HRs in his first full season of the majors. He’s 25, which is a tad old, but as previously mentioned he was ready at 22, then things derailed. Now that things are, uh, re-railed. It’s not like age 25 is old for power. It’s still peaking. Am I super excited for Addison Barger in 2030? Maybe not, but who cares? This is for 2026. His speed? It’s far from nonexistent. He graded as a 50-grade speed guy, and stole a handful of bags every year in the minors, and four this past year. Every bit helps here. Will he steal 20+ bags? That seems wildly doubtful, but, with The Naylor 27, who knows. I wouldn’t expect more than seven, but the pitch clock has made anyone with speed a possible threat. It’s actually made guys without speed a threat.

Finally, his average. That’s where things are a little trickier. The exit velos were good, which is good, and he regularly had higher BABIPs in the minors, than he had last year (.284). He did have a 29.9% chase rate. By no means the death knell, was the same as Cody Bellinger and 49th worst in the majors. Unlike Cody, who had a 90.6% contact rate on balls in the zone, Barger had a 85.4% which was 58th worst. On the bright side, he saw 26th most balls inside the zone, because pitchers figured why not. He must make them pay, but not start chasing more. It’s a bit of a delicate balancing act. Here’s all of this in colors:

I wanna present you two more sliders, then tell you what they are:

That’s Vlad Jr. in 2023 and 2025. If Addison Barger’s squared-up goes up even a fraction of what it did with Vlad, Barger’s going to be an absolute steal in drafts and a huge sleeper. For 2026 fantasy baseball, I’ll give Addison Barger projections of 71/26/80/.261/6 in 491 ABs with a chance for more.