Kiermaier placed on 10-day IL because of left hip flexor inflammation

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Realistically and logically, there was no way Addison Barger could duplicate the feats achieved by Davis Schneider last year when the unheralded call-up took the baseball world by storm.

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With the Jays in desperate need of a jolt to lift a moribund club, Schneider used a weekend series at Fenway Park to introduce himself.

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In his first at-bat, Schneider went deep over the Green Monster.

Brandon Belt would anoint the 28th-round pick as Babe Schneider.

Barger, 23, would get the call in the immediate hours following Toronto’s loss to Kansas City Tuesday night.

He slept, admittedly, roughly 20 minutes and arrived at Kauffman Stadium for his MLB debut fuelled by adrenaline and caffeine.

He had never played left field at the pro level, but out of necessity the Blue Jays started the kid.

Wearing jersey No. 47 and batting in the No. 8 hole in the lineup, Barger’s debut would begin.

And it would be quite an eventful debut with the kid involved in several unique plays Wednesday night when the Blue Jays’ offence came up short, losing 3-2 for the second game in a row.

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On the mound for the Blue Jays in the third game of a four-game series was Yariel Rodriguez, who was making his third start.

Compared to his previous two, Rodriguez looked below average.

Ernie Clement started at third base.

Some semblance of normalcy did exist when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. struck out swinging in the game’s first at-bats, 24 hours after he struck out twice on an 0-for-5 night marred by a fielding error at first base that led to all three of Kansas City’s runs in a 3-2 Royals win.

Barger first got involved in the game in the home half of the first when a liner into left field was handled cleanly and promptly thrown to the bag at third base.

K.C. took advantage of two walks and a throwing error by Danny Jansen to jump out to a 1-0 lead, which could have been greater had the homeside not hit into an inning-ending double play.

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Rodriguez needed 21 pitches to get out of the inning.

With veteran Kevin Kiermaier, who left Tuesday’s game, going on the 10-day injured list because of inflammation to his left hip flexor, Barger was called up from triple-A Buffalo as a replacement on the 26-man active roster.

Daulton Varsho started in centre with George Springer in his familiar spot in right field.

Varsho is likely to remain in centre field for the foreseeable future with the corner outfield positions dependent on Springer’s health and pitching matchups.

The right-handed hitting Schneider has played left field, while Cavan Biggio has filled in for Springer.

As one might expect, it was an emotional and exciting day for Barger, who had family and friends in attendance to witness the occasion.

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Barger told reporters in the hours leading up to the game’s first pitch that he wanted to play freely and have fun.

Turns out he got more than what he could envisioned.

He can play in the infield as a utility player and has a big arm.

His outfield versatility and ability to manage the plate also intrigued the Blue Jays.

His first real chance to make a play in the outfield arrived in the second inning on a slicing ball with two outs.

Barger turned his body to try to locate the ball that would originally be ruled a triple when he misplayed it.

Granted, it was windy, but a seasoned outfielder would have made the play.

One batter later, a hard-hit single to Barger would score K.C.’s second run.

Welcome to the show kid.

He would make his debut at the plate in the third inning when he faced Royals starter Alec Marsh, who began the at-bat with a called strike.

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Barger then swung through a pitch for strike two.

A left-handed bat whose stance is slightly open, Barger has a nice aggressive swing through the zone.

He squared it up on the 0-2 pitch, but unfortunately for Barger he happened to hit it into the deepest part at Kauffman Stadium located in straight-away centre for the first out.

Two batters later, Springer reached base on a two-out double, but would be left stranded when Vlad Jr. hit a fly ball to first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino in foul territory.

Pasquantino led off the third and stroked a ball to left field.

Barger made a Varsho-like play by crashing into the wall to make the back-handed catch in recording the out.

Once in the dugout, Barger could be seen conferring with Kiermaier.

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Just before Barger stepped up to the plate for his second at-bat, the second-inning triple given to Kyle Isbel would be changed to a double with Barger charged with an error when Isbel took third.

Barger’s first night then featured a bullet toward the mound that hit Marsh flush in the right arm.

Once Marsh gathered himself, he was able to throw Barger out at first on a close play, but the Royals starter had to leave the game after taking the hard-hit ball off his pitching arm.

The game wasn’t even half completed and Barger had already experienced a week’s worth of activity.

He then saw Springer go deep to centre as the Jays cut K.C.’s lead in half following Springer’s third home run of the season, his first long ball since the second game of the season in Tampa.

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In Barger’s third at-bat, he faced left reliever Angel Zerpa, two outs with a runner at second in a one-run game.

Barger struck out looking.

In the top of the ninth, Justin Turner reached base on a one-out single.

As fate would have it, Barger came to plate representing the go-ahead run with Isiah Kiner-Falefa pinch-running for Turner.

Barger hit a ball to second and nearly beat out the throw to first as IKF advanced to second.

The game ended when Cavan Biggio struck out looking.

fzicarelli@postmedia.com

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