Photo credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images
Addison Barger gave the Blue Jays a better injury update Friday, with his recovery finally moving into the next phase.
Schneider said Barger has already resumed throwing. That matters on its own, because it tells Toronto this is no longer a full shutdown situation.
The bigger step is coming soon. Schneider said Barger is expected to start hitting in the cage either tomorrow or the next day, which gives this recovery a much more useful shape.
That is where an injury update starts to feel real for a position player. Throwing is one box. Getting the bat moving again is the one that starts bringing a return into view.
There is another layer behind it, too. Schneider said Barger is set to begin running early next week, which means the Blue Jays are starting to reconnect the full chain of baseball activity instead of treating each piece in isolation.
The clip itself showed the update being delivered in a calm, matter-of-fact way, the kind of tone that usually comes when a player is progressing instead of stalling.
That does not mean Barger is about to rejoin the lineup card tomorrow. It does mean Toronto has moved past the point of waiting for basic improvement and into the stage where daily baseball work can start stacking again.
Hitting and running are the real checkpoints now
This is why Schneider's timeline matters. Once a hitter gets back in the cage, the conversation changes from pure recovery to how the body responds after swings, torque, and repeated movement.
The running piece may be just as important. A player can feel good taking throws and even swing the bat well, but the real test comes when he has to push off, change direction, and trust the body at full pace.
For Barger, that makes next week worth watching. If the cage work starts on schedule and the running progression opens early next week, the Blue Jays will have a much cleaner read on how close he is to normal baseball activity.
That is encouraging news even without a return date. Toronto does not need to force the timeline right now. It needs Barger to keep clearing steps without a setback showing up between them.
And this update sounded like exactly that kind of progress. Throwing is already underway, hitting is around the corner, and running is next.
For the Blue Jays, that is the kind of injury news that actually means something. Barger is not all the way back yet, but he is moving in the right direction, and the next few days should tell the club a lot more about how quickly this can turn from recovery into return.
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