Correctly predicting a home run is always impressive, but MLB Network analyst Dan Plesac took calling his shot to another level on Friday night.
Before the Blue Jays took Game 1 of the 2025 World Series with an 11-4 win over the Dodgers in Toronto, Plesac offered up a surprising choice as his “Homer Hunch”: Blue Jays slugger Addison Barger.
The left-handed hitting Barger, notably, was not in Toronto’s starting lineup against Dodgers southpaw Blake Snell. But that didn’t stop Plesac.
“I’m telling you what: He’s going to run into one, and the Rogers Centre is going to come unglued,” Plesac promised. “He’s going to get a pinch-hit at-bat in the seventh, eighth, or ninth inning, and he’s going to send this place into a frenzy.”
In fact, it was the sixth inning, with the bases loaded and one out, when Barger got his chance. The Blue Jays had already broken a 2-2 tie by pushing three runs across, and manager John Schneider summoned Barger off the bench with Dodgers righty reliever Emmet Sheehan in the game.
L.A. countered with lefty Anthony Banda to face Barger, but the Toronto third baseman/outfielder turned on a slider up and in for a game-breaking grand slam. It was the first pinch-hit grand slam in World Series history and the first pinch-hit homer of any sort in the Fall Classic since Jorge Soler in 2021. Barger is donating the spikes he wore in Game 1 to the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
And it sure made Plesac look smart.
“How in the world?” MLB Network’s Greg Amsinger asked Plesac after the game-changing dinger, in clear disbelief. “How did you know?”
“Bad intentions!” Plesac replied, referring to Barger — an aggressive power hitter with elite bat speed and high exit velocity readings.
Whatever Plesac’s reasoning was, there could only be one conclusion Friday night.
As Amsinger put it: “Dan Plesac’s a genius.”
