When Addison Barger hits a changeup, Blue Jays star homers 13% of the time
The Toronto Blue Jays' breakout lefty hitter has mashed against all sorts of offerings this season, but he's had an absurd campaign against changeups.
The latest moment came Tuesday afternoon when Barger got a changeup from Charlie Morton and blasted a two-run home run.
After Barger rounded the bases, Sportsnet play-by-play man Dan Shulman shared a stat that was hard to believe.
Barger has had 54 at bats this season end with a changeup. Seven of those have resulted in homers, a 13% rate.
It seemed too good to be true, but Barger's Baseball Savant page confirms the data as Shulman presented it.
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Barger has five singles and two doubles this season off changeups (technically splitters and forkballs would fall into this classification, too), but the seven homers show that's not necessarily a pitch you want to throw to the Blue Jays slugger.
Hitting changeups is a skill requiring a bat that stays through the zone a long time, and a lower half that hangs back just long enough to adjust to the offspeed pitch.
Barger clearly has that skill down, and he showed it again on Tuesday afternoon.
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