Outfielder Addison Barger is continuing to progress in his rehab, and as MLB.com’s Keegan Matheson reports, he is set to fly to Toronto to be checked by the team staff before beginning a rehab assignment.
Barger has dealt with two separate injuries through the campaign - he suffered an ankle injury that kept him out of the lineup from April 5 - May 8, and when he returned to the lineup after that absence he appeared in just one game before picking up an elbow injury.
It was reported earlier in June that Barger could begin a rehab assignment at the beginning of this week, and manager John Schneider told reporters on Wednesday that he is throwing without any pain.
Schneider also said that “some soreness has kind of crept” when Barger has been hitting through his rehab process, though, which has slowed the recovery that was not initially expected to take this long.
In all, Barger has appeared in just nine games this season, where he’s gone 1-for-22 with a double and two RBI.
Barger hit 21 home runs in 135 games a season ago, his first full season with the big-league club. He also logged seven extra-base hits in 60 at-bats in the postseason run, that ended with the Blue Jays losing to the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 7 of the World Series.
His return to the batting order could help energize a lineup that enters play Wednesday ranked 22nd in runs scored and tied for 22nd in home runs hit.
