Barger had surgery on Monday for a season-ending elbow injury, but the Blue Jay should be ready to resume action in spring training in 2027.
“It was just a repair, so that’s good news,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider told reporters before Monday’s game against the Washington Nationals. “It wasn’t a full reconstruction, so that’s like roughly six months.”
There was fear Barger could miss up to 12 months when the team announced last week he would miss the remainder of the 2026 season.
Schneider said last week Barger had been dealing with an elbow issue for “a couple years” before injuring it on an impressive 101.2-m.p.h. throw on May 9 at Rogers Centre that would nab Jorge Soler at home plate.
Despite optimism earlier in the summer that Barger could be days away from a minor-league rehab assignment, that never happened.
Last year, Barger emerged as a difference maker for the Blue Jays, hitting 21 home runs on his way to a .756 OPS in 135 regular-season games. He performed even better in the post-season, hitting three home runs, including the first pinch-hit grand slam in World Series history, while posting a 1.025 OPS in October.