DH Daulton? Don't get used to it, but Varsho mashes encouraging HR

DUNEDIN -- Something about “Daulton Varsho, designated hitter” looked strange on the Blue Jays’ lineup card Friday, but then he took his first swing.

Varsho launched a deep home run to right field in his Spring Training debut against the Tigers, a no-doubter that soared over the wall and slammed onto the roof of the building behind it. Even as Varsho and the Blue Jays take the stretch run of his rehab from right shoulder surgery day by day, this was an extremely encouraging moment.

Last year, Varsho felt like he hit too many sky-high balls. He’s since adjusted by intentionally overcompensating, forcing himself to feel like he’s swinging down too much. The result is his swing ending up in a happy medium, which was seen Friday afternoon.

“Once this injury happened, I became adamant from the get-go to be more direct to the ball,” Varsho said. “I’m slowing myself down and trusting hitting the ball down. That’s been my work, getting down and almost feeling like I’m chopping it. I’m very good at getting the ball in the air. If I can think about chopping it and getting it down, my barrel is going to get underneath a couple of balls.”

While rehabs from shoulder procedures can be difficult to put a timeline on, it was surprising to see Varsho hitting without any limitations early in camp. That said, the final hurdle will always be throwing, which puts more strain on the shoulder. Varsho also has a habit of running into walls at full speed, so getting his shoulder back to just 99% won’t be enough.

“There’s more boxes to check, like throwing to the bases on back-to-back days,” manager John Schneider said. “This was another good day for him, throwing out to 120 feet, so I think it’s more about how he’s rebounding from those once he does start throwing to the bases and getting into games.”

Opening Day remains the big question.

If Varsho isn’t ready, the Blue Jays would first pivot to Joey Loperfido, who has been getting the majority of reps in center field this spring and starts there Friday night in Tampa against the Yankees. They also have Nathan Lukes, Jonatan Clase and George Springer as players who can play center on the 40-man roster, with Myles Straw at camp as a non-roster invitee. But while it shouldn’t be a problem for the Jays to cover a couple of weeks in center, no one compares to Varsho’s defense (16 OAA in 2024, tied for second among MLB outfielders).

For checklist items, Varsho’s next step is getting up to 80 mph throwing. Once he’s there comfortably, he will start throwing to bases and maxing out for the final stages of his rehab. Things remain day to day as Varsho feels it out, but he’s getting closer to checking off those final boxes.

“We’ll see. We’re trying to take this in three- or four-day buckets,” Schneider said. “He’s progressing well. I don’t want to put anything past him or say that’s not a definite possibility. It will go right down to the end as long as he doesn’t have any setbacks. If he’s there, great. If he’s not, we know he’s going to be soon.”

While short of a diving catch or a throw home, Varsho’s power has been the most encouraging part of his spring so far, as he tries to rediscover the stroke he had in 2022 with the D-backs, where he blasted a career-high 27 homers. Friday’s debut went as well as it possibly could have for Varsho, whose brief DH era should soon be behind him.