Article: Toronto Blue Jays Hitters of the Month - June 2025

[Owen Hill]

The Blue Jays followed a breakout May with a solid month of June, going 16-10. They played complete baseball, finishing in the month seventh in runs scored, producing the third most position player fWAR in baseball (5.3), and completely lapping the field when it came to defense, putting up 10.5 defensive runs above average, according to FanGraphs. That mark is nearly three times that of the second place team!

The home run power we saw in May didn’t play as prevalent a role for the Blue Jays this month, as they hit just 26 after blasting 38 in May. Still, the team finished with a healthy wRC+ of 107, good for the 11th-best mark in the sport.

The end of June gives us a chance to acknowledge the position players who made it a successful month for the Blue Jays.

Honourable Mention
Addison Barger - .239/.287/..489, 5 HR, 6 BB, 29 K, 115 wRC+, 0.7 fWAR

It was hard to find a Blue Jays story with much more helium than Addison Barger’s breakout May. He finished the month with an OPS of nearly .900, he cut his strikeout rate to just 22%, and he tied Vladimir Guerrero Jr. with a 146 wRC+. 

He’s earned a regular spot hitting between Bo Bichette and Guerrero Jr., but June saw Barger’s production slow down a touch as his name climbed up scouting reports across the league. The biggest warning sign was that his walk-to-strikeout ratio went from 0.45 in May to 0.21 in June.

The chart below shows that Barger is being pitched differently, facing breaking pitches nearly eight percent more often in June than he was in May. This means he’s facing fewer fastballs and even fewer offspeed pitches.

This all makes sense when we look at Barger’s production against different types of pitches this season and see that he’s got an xwOBA of .525 against offspeed pitches, .371 against fastballs, and just .255 against breaking balls.

via Baseball Savant

This was an extremely roundabout way of saying that despite coming back down to earth a little bit, Barger had a very solid June, considering how opposing teams changed the way they were attacking him. He produced the fourth most fWAR on the Jays at 0.7, hit five homers, and posted an OPS of .776, plenty good enough for an honourable mention on my Blue Jays Hitters of the Month list.

3. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. - .290/.383/.516, 4 HR, 10 BB, 10 K, 153 wRC+, 0.9 fWAR
It’s no secret at this point that the Jays go as Vladdy goes, so it makes sense that after being my choice for the number one Blue Jays hitter for the Month in May, Vladdy put up another productive month in June. 

Vlad continued to look just like himself, and as per usual, his baseball savant page is bright red as he combines some monstrous exit velocities with an impressive contact rate, and an ability to walk as much as he strikes out.

You’re probably more than familiar with Vlad’s offensive profile by now, so I want to draw your attention to his defense. For the first time in his career, including when he won the Gold Glove in 2022, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is on pace to finish with a positive fielding run value. For a team that’s been one of the best on the defensive side of the ball for a third straight year, it’s really nice to see the Jays’ star player take on that identity a little bit.

Of course, the conversation surrounding Guerrero Jr. is always going to start and end with his offense, and while he had a good June, we’re still waiting to see him go nuclear and carry this offense for an extended stretch. The power output has been disappointing in 2025, and he added just four homers in June to bring his season total to 12, a large part of the explanation for him coming up only third on this list.

If you’re looking for some optimism going into the second half of the season: 

• 2024: Vladimir Guerrero Jr. through June 30: .298 AVG, 13 HR, .848 OPS
• 2025: Vladimir Guerrero Jr. through June 30: .282 AVG, 12 HR, .840 OPS

Right around this time last year is when Vladdy went unconscious and put up a 187 wRC+ over his final 75 games, so hopefully we’re on the verge of another explosion, and when I write this article at the end of July, Vlad’s name is the easy number one.

One final fun note on Guerrero Jr.’s June: He led the Blue Jays in stolen bases with three.

2. Ernie Clement - .354/.398/.455, 1 HR, 8 BB, 6 K, 141 wRC+, 1.3 fWAR
Year after year in baseball, there are breakout stories surrounding guys who weren’t on very many radars entering the year. For the Blue Jays, that story has been Ernie Clement.

After getting hot in May, Clement has ridden the wave all the way through June. His elite ability to put the bat on the ball has been turning into a ton of hits, especially against left-handed pitching. 

This month, we saw Clement do something none of us thought was possible: walk (eight times) more than he struck out (six times). Considering that, and the fact that he hit over .350 with seven doubles, there weren’t a whole lot of questions surrounding the offensive side of his game in June.

Clement finding some offensive consistency has made it easy for John Schneider to pencil his name into the lineup every day, but it’s always a surprise to fans where he’s playing. He started at all four infield positions at least once in June, including playing a very good back-up shortstop on days when Bichette was out of the lineup and a solid first base when Vlad took a day off.

His 3.8 Def, according to FanGraphs, led all non-Alejandro Kirk Blue Jays in June, and his 1.3 fWAR brought his season total up to 2.7.

Clement should be the current favourite to win the utility Gold Glove at the end of the season, but perhaps a spicier take is that he deserves some consideration to come off the bench for the American League in the All-Star Game in a couple of weeks.

1. Alejandro Kirk - .337/.385/.528, 4 HR, 7 BB, 9 K, 159 wRC+, 1.4 fWAR
Speaking of guys that shouldn’t be making plans over the All-Star break, Alejandro Kirk would be a lock to start for the American League in Atlanta if Cal Raleigh wasn’t in the midst of one of the best offensive seasons a catcher has ever produced. Still, Kirky should be a safe bet to be the second catcher representing the AL.

A big reason for that is the month Kirk put up in June. All facets of his defense remained elite, as his +14 FRV is currently the best mark in baseball this season. FanGraphs had him as the most valuable defender in baseball in June with a 5.7 Def, nearly a full run and a half higher than Nick Allen of the Atlanta Braves.

Aside from his otherworldly defense, Kirk’s offensive profile has been something to marvel at this year. His 55.9% hard-hit rate is the seventh best mark among qualified hitters, while his strikeout percentage of 9.8% is the fifth best. There is no qualified player in the top 150 in hard hit percentage with a strikeout rate equal to or lower than Kirk’s.

Kirk is one of the few players who’s both elite at putting the ball in play and hitting it hard when he does. It’s no surprise that peripherals like that helped him to a .914 OPS in June.

Kirk’s 1.4 fWAR led the Jays this past month, as did his 159 wRC+, and he was an easy choice to be the Blue Jays Hitter of the Month. What a privilege it is to have him anchoring the team almost every night behind the plate and in the middle of the order.

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[Hill]

In Kirk we trust