Daulton Varsho

Daulton John Varsho (born July 2, 1996) is an American professional baseball outfielder and catcher for the Toronto Blue Jays of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his MLB debut in 2020 with the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Daulton Varsho
Varsho with the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2021
Toronto Blue Jays – No. 25
Outfielder / Catcher
Born: (1996-07-02) July 2, 1996
Marshfield, Wisconsin, U.S.
Bats: Left
Throws: Right
MLB debut
July 30, 2020, for the Arizona Diamondbacks
MLB statistics
(through 2023 season)
Batting average.229
Home runs61
Runs batted in183
Teams

Amateur career

Varsho attended Marshfield High School in Marshfield, Wisconsin, graduating in 2014. He enrolled at University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, and played college baseball for the Milwaukee Panthers. He was named the Horizon League Player of the Year in his sophomore year, 2016, after he batted .381/.447/.610.[1] In 2017 he batted .362/.490/.643.[2]

Professional career

Arizona Diamondbacks

The Arizona Diamondbacks selected Varsho in the second round, with the 68th overall selection, of the 2017 Major League Baseball (MLB) draft.[3] He signed and made his professional debut that same year with the Hillsboro Hops of the Class A-Short Season Northwest League, where he batted .311/.368/.534 with seven home runs, 39 runs batted in (RBIs), and had a .902 on-base plus slugging in 50 games.[4]

In 2018, Varsho played with the Visalia Rawhide of the Class A-Advanced California League, [5] where he hit .286/.363/.451 with 11 home runs, 44 RBIs, and 19 stolen bases in 80 games.[6] He was a mid-season All Star.[7]

Varsho spent the 2019 season with the Jackson Generals of the Class AA Southern League.[8] In June, he was named to the 2019 All-Star Futures Game.[9] In August, the Diamondbacks began to play Varsho as a center fielder in addition to catcher.[10][11] He batted .301/.378/.520 with 18 home runs, 58 RBIs, and 21 stolen bases in 396 at bats.[2] After the season, on October 10, 2019, he was selected for the United States national baseball team in the 2019 WBSC Premier12.[12]

The Diamondbacks promoted Varsho to the major leagues on July 30, 2020.[13] He made his major league debut that night against the Los Angeles Dodgers. He finished the season hitting .188/.287/.366 with 3 home runs and 9 RBIs in 37 games. On August 14, 2021, Varsho caught Tyler Gilbert's no-hitter against the San Diego Padres.[14]

In 2022 he led the majors in percentage of balls pulled (54.5%), and batted .235/.302/.443 with 27 home runs and 74 RBIs.[15] He played 71 games in right field, 54 in center field, 31 at catcher, and 15 at DH.[16]

Toronto Blue Jays

On December 23, 2022, the Diamondbacks traded Varsho to the Toronto Blue Jays in exchange for Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and Gabriel Moreno.[17]

On January 13, 2023, Varsho signed a one-year, $3.05 million contract with the Blue Jays, avoiding salary arbitration.[18] In 2023 he batted .229/.298/.416 in 527 at bats, and led the AL in bunt hits with 11.[19]

Personal life

He is the son of former MLB outfielder, manager, and coach Gary Varsho,[20] and is named after Darren Daulton, his father's former teammate.[21]

References
  1. Skurzewski, Mitchell A. (June 12, 2017). "Marshfield grad Daulton Varsho picked by Diamondbacks in MLB Draft". Marshfield News Herald. Retrieved December 5, 2018.
  2. "Daulton Varsho Amateur, College, Minor & Fall Leagues Statistics & History". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved November 11, 2019.
  3. Haudricourt, Tom (June 13, 2017). "Arizona Diamondbacks select UWM catcher Daulton Varsho at No. 68". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Retrieved December 5, 2018.
  4. "Daulton Varsho Stats, Highlights, Bio - MiLB.com Stats - The Official Site of Minor League Baseball". MiLB.com. Retrieved April 30, 2018.
  5. Terranova, Rob (April 10, 2018). "Varsho hits the gas pedal for Rawhide". MiLB.com. Retrieved December 5, 2018.
  6. "Daulton Varsho Stats, Highlights, Bio – MiLB.com Stats – The Official Site of Minor League Baseball". Retrieved October 24, 2018.
  7. "Daulton Varsho Stats, Highlights, Bio | MiLB.com Stats | The Official Site of Minor League Baseball". Milb.com. Retrieved November 11, 2019.
  8. McDermott, Michael (April 4, 2019). "2019 Arizona Diamondbacks Farm System Preview". AZ Snake Pit. Retrieved November 9, 2019.
  9. Callis, Jim (June 28, 2019). "Here are the 2019 Futures Game rosters". MLB.com. Retrieved June 28, 2019.
  10. Piecoro, Nick (August 23, 2019). "Arizona Diamondbacks putting Daulton Varsho's versatility to the test". azcentral.com. Retrieved November 9, 2019.
  11. Gilbert, Steve (July 31, 2020). "Daulton Varsho called up by D-backs". MLB.com. Retrieved August 18, 2020.
  12. "USA Baseball Names Premier12 Roster". USA Baseball. October 10, 2019. Retrieved October 13, 2019.
  13. "Arizona Diamondbacks call up prospect Daulton Varsho". Azcentral.com. July 30, 2020. Retrieved August 18, 2020.
  14. "Padres 0, D-backs 7 Final Score (08/14/2021) on MLB Gameday". MLB.com.
  15. "Splits Leaderboards | FanGraphs". fangraphs.com.
  16. "Daulton Varsho Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More". Baseball-Reference.com.
  17. "OF/C Varsho acquired by Blue Jays for Gurriel, Moreno". Toronto Blue Jays. December 23, 2022. Retrieved December 23, 2022.
  18. "2023 MLB Arbitration Tracker". MLBTradeRumors. Retrieved January 13, 2023.
  19. "Major League Leaderboards - 2023 - Batting". FanGraphs Baseball.
  20. "UWM's Varsho worked hard to get in position for the MLB draft". Jsonline.com. June 11, 2017. Retrieved December 5, 2018.
  21. Breen, Matt (August 21, 2017). "Named after Darren Daulton, he's a major-league prospect - and a catcher, too". Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved August 18, 2020.
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