Schneider Maps Addison Barger Rehab Path in Dunedin Sunday — John Schneider Addison Barger Update
John Schneider Addison Barger update: Addison Barger is headed for Dunedin on Sunday after John Schneider said the 26-year-old is getting closer to a rehab stint. The Blue Jays manager laid out a short ramp back that begins in the Player Development Complex and points toward a return after Barger has been out since April 5.
Schneider's Sunday plan
"Addy's doing well. He's running the bases today — I think he's just getting done with that now — down in the (Player Development Complex). And then he's gonna play in Dunedin on Sunday" — that was Schneider's description of where the recovery stands. The schedule gives Barger a game setting instead of another isolated workout, which is the first clear step back into competition.
"They're off on Monday and then he'll probably play again on Tuesday and then we'll kind of see where we're at." That quote matters because it lays out the next two checkpoints without turning the assignment into a guess. For a player who has been sidelined by an ankle injury since April 5, the Blue Jays are not treating Sunday as a one-off test.
April 5 absence
Barger had one hit in 19 at-bats before the injury interrupted his season, a small sample but still the only major-league production he brought into the absence. Toronto's approach now is to get him into games in Dunedin, then into another game on Tuesday, before deciding whether he is ready to move further along the rehab path.
The timing lines up with the club's broader travel plan, because Schneider said the Blue Jays will be in Tropicana Field in Tampa beginning Monday and wants to see Barger when the team is there. That makes the Tampa stop the practical reference point for where the organization can evaluate him without guessing from workouts alone.
Berrios on the same timeline
Jose Berrios is moving on a separate track, but Schneider tied the two return stories together on Friday when he said Berrios will throw in triple-A and is close to coming back from an elbow injury. "He's gonna throw in triple-A today, just a bullpen (session), and kinda stay on his routine," Schneider said.
"I think what we're gonna do is have him pitch one more time down there. That's where we're leaning." That is the clean read on Toronto's week: Barger is starting game action, Berrios is still in bullpen-to-rehab mode, and both are being handled with enough caution that neither return will be rushed just because the roster needs help. For Barger, Sunday in Dunedin is the real test; if that goes well, Tuesday becomes the next useful checkpoint.
