Keegan Matheson

You've got to win right now, and they have a soft start.

They've got to avoid that hangover.

Yeah, because they won't be surprising anyone, right, Frankie?

Now if you're Addison Barger, if I'm a pitcher facing the Blue Jays guys, number one, I want to make sure that Vladdy doesn't make me look like an idiot.

And number two, I'm probably looking to Addison Barger really quickly on that list because you see what he's capable of with one swing, completely changing a game.

And what's scary about Addison Barger is that you can spot your pitch perfectly.

I mean, right on the corner, low and outside, and he can hit it 440 feet.

So he is the guy who pitchers will be game planning for actively.

And that wasn't always the case last year.

So that's a challenge.

And the solution, guys, is always quantity.

You need someone else to step up.

You need to have someone else already in line in case something else goes wrong because these guys will be game planned against.

And Barger's the one I'm most interested in.

I think Nathan Lucas...

is steady, just a rock-solid, steady big leaguer who's always going to have a job with this team.

But Barger can either completely pop, hit 35 home runs, finish top 10 MVP, or he can run into some real challenges because other pitchers are going to obsess over him now.

Show everyone who you are.

That's what John Schneider is doing right now.

He's throwing Addison Barger into a big spot and saying prove it.