Lately, the Toronto Blue Jays’ offence has been, well, next level. *wink* *wink*

Puns aside, the lineup has been on quite a tear recently, exploding for 60 total runs over the last six home games — two versus the Padres and the final four against the A’s.

It’s an offensive surge that, given how this season began in March/April, many probably didn’t expect to witness in 2025. But after featuring one of the worst offences in baseball during that opening month, this team has amazingly been on the other end of the spectrum since the start of May.

As crazy as this may seem, the Blue Jays have featured a top-five offence over the last four-plus weeks. They’ve completely flipped the script since struggling out of the gate. Since May 1, they rank fourth in total runs scored (144) and team slugging percentage (.445) while producing the fifth-most home runs (39) — tied alongside the Tigers in that span.

Toronto’s hitters also rank second in wOBA (.345) and wRC+ (125, 100 league average), only trailing the Dodgers (.358, 131) in both metrics. Both clubs are also tied for first in combined fWAR, with each team accounting for 8.0 wins above replacement.

There’s no question that improved stretches from Bo Bichette (132 wRC+ since May 1) and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (156 wRC+) have made a huge difference for this team as of late. But just as valuable has been the increased production from Addison Barger, who’s hit five home runs this season — all coming in the last three weeks.

The results have come in waves for Barger since the club’s West Coast road trip through Los Angeles (Anaheim) and Seattle, which began on May 7. In 24 games since then, the left-handed slugger has completely taken off, posting a remarkable .321/.387/.595 slash line, .416 wOBA and a 175 wRC+ across 93 plate appearances.

And as you can gather from Barger’s 15-game rolling wRC+ chart since his debut 2024 season, this recent stretch has easily been the best of his young big-league career.

Barger offers precisely what this Blue Jays offence was missing early on: power, and lots of it. He hits balls harder than almost anyone in baseball — more than even Guerrero, at least recently — and trails only Washington’s James Wood (64.3 per cent) among qualified major league hitters (min. 70 plate appearances) in hard-hit rate since May 7 with a 64.1-per-cent clip.

Additionally, Barger ranks third in average exit velocity (96.1 m.p.h.) during that same span behind New York’s Ben Rice (97) and Pittsburgh’s Oneil Cruz (100.4).

The sensational exit velos are undeniable from Toronto’s emerging star, powered by his team-leading average bat speed of 76 m.p.h. But he’s also improved his whiff rate, trimming it from 26.4 per cent pre-May 7 to 22.6 per cent since then. Both of which should bode well for maintaining his explosiveness at the plate.

That’ll be crucial for the Blue Jays, considering Barger has recently emerged as one of their most important hitters — if not the most important.

Barger’s rise, of course, hasn’t been an overnight success story. It’s taken many frustrating days to reach this point. We all remember how disappointing last season was for him, following a 69-game span that included seven home runs — which he’s nearly matched in 38 games this season — and a measly .197/.250/.351 slash line, accounting for a 70 wRC+ and minus-0.3 fWAR.

Even in ’25, the results were hard to come by during his first few weeks with the big-league club following his mid-April promotion from triple-A.

Trusting process over results, while easier said than done, was critical for Barger after going 5-for-36 (.139) with zero home runs over his first 14 games. He was hitting balls hard, particularly across a 10-game span leading up to the May 7 series opener against the Angels, with eight of his 19 batted balls coming off his bat at 95 m.p.h. or harder, without being rewarded for making quality contact.

Like with most poor-luck cases, though, good things come to those who wait. For Barger, after cleaning up a few mechanical issues prior to that West Coast trip, paired with his batted-ball misfortune normalizing, this recent offensive surge has been well worth the wait.

The bat is what’s earned Barger regular at-bats over the past several weeks, with his name pencilled into Toronto’s starting lineup on basically an everyday basis these days. And rightly so, with the way he’s been hitting lately. But his slugging isn’t the only element of his game that’s stood out. His fielding at the hot corner has, too.

It’s been a complete, all-around performance from the 25-year-old, who’s registered a pair of defensive runs saved and outs above average across 220.1 innings at third base — where he’s also earned a plus-two fielding run value.

Because of that, Barger — fueled by his game-changing bat and insanely strong arm on the left side of the infield, which will eventually rank him first in average arm strength at third once he compiles the necessary 75 throws (51 current) — has been worth 1.5 fWAR since May 7, tying him for first with Ernie Clement among Blue Jays position players.

Needless to say, Barger and Clement have been two of Toronto’s most valuable players in recent weeks. When everyone is healthy, though, they both occupy the same position, thus creating an interesting problem — albeit a good one — amidst Andrés Giménez’s impending return from the IL.

With Giménez due back Tuesday, there’ll be dramatically fewer reps available at second for versatile infielders like Clement, who’ll likely continue splitting time at several positions moving forward, including the hot corner. But his opportunities at third may be few and far between.

As long as Barger — currently on pace for 14 home runs and a two-fWAR season — continues to ride a red-hot bat, manager John Schneider will want him playing as often as possible, essentially making him an everyday player at this point.

While there have been concerns in the past about Barger facing left-handed pitchers, those have since greatly dissipated, as he’s gone 3-for-10 with a trio of walks and strikeouts while leading all Blue Jays left-handed-hitters in left-on-left plate appearances (13) since May 20. As he’s become more trustworthy, he’s found himself hitting higher in the batting order.

Toronto’s preference has been to separate its string of right-handed batters atop the lineup with a lefty slugger over the years — whether it be Brandon Belt, Daniel Vogelbach, Daulton Varsho or Anthony Santander (who also bats right). But with those last two currently injured, the club turned to Barger last Saturday with right-hander Gunnar Hoglund starting for the A’s, hitting him third for just the second time this season — both occurring in May.

Until Varsho and Santander return, the Blue Jays may continue to deploy Barger in that type of role, especially considering how much of a problem the No. 3 hole has been this season, with the team ranked 21st in SLG (.374), 23rd in strikeout rate (23.2 per cent) and 29th in hits (46) and wRC+ (75)  from that spot in the order.

Philadelphia is scheduled to start a lefty in two of its three games versus Toronto this week, so consistently slotting Barger inside the top three might have to wait until the club hits the road for Minnesota — which only features righties in its starting rotation — following Thursday’s series finale at the Rogers Centre.

Still, as the Blue Jays begin a stretch against improved competition, facing the Phillies twice, plus the Twins, Cardinals and Diamondbacks, scoring runs is about to become much tougher than it was against the A’s struggling staff. It should tell us a lot about where this team stands, likewise for Barger, less than two months away from the July 31 trade deadline.