Daulton Varsho will undergo surgery to repair a rotator cuff injury in his right shoulder, he tells Hazel Mae (X link). Toronto manager John Schneider told the Toronto beat (relayed on X by Keegan Matheson of MLB.com) that the Jays will have a clearer timeline once Varsho completes the procedure. Schneier didn’t rule out the possibility that the rehab process carries into next year’s Spring Training.
That brings an early end to the outfielder’s second year in Toronto. Varsho hit .214/.293/.407 with 18 homers, 21 doubles and seven triples through 513 plate appearances. That’s league average offensive production, by measure of wRC+, with Varsho’s power helping to offset the poor on-base mark. It’s a better year than he had in 2023, when he hit .220/.285/.389 despite offense being higher around the league than it has been this season.
Varsho may not recapture the 27-homer form that he showed during his final season with the Diamondbacks. He can still be a very productive player even with league average offense. The former catcher has developed into one of the game’s premier defensive outfielders. Varsho had fantastic marks for his 672 innings of center field work and his 400+ frames in left field. Statcast has him tied for second among outfielders (behind Washington’s Jacob Young) in Outs Above Average. Defensive Runs Saved credited Varsho with an incredible 28 runs above average — not only the best in MLB but five runs clear of second-place Jarren Duran.
Those defensive metrics should earn Varsho his first Gold Glove. He’ll go into next season as Toronto’s everyday center fielder if he’s healthy. Any kind of offseason setback could put that in doubt, but for now, there’s no indication the Jays will need to look outside the organization for center field help.
Nathan Lukes, who has taken over in center, looks like a solid fourth outfielder. He’d be an option to pick up some early-season starts if Varsho falls behind schedule. George Springer has plenty of center field experience but he has only played one game there this season. As he enters his age-35 season, Springer seems firmly committed to right field.
Varsho is under team control for another two seasons. He made $5.65MM in his second of four years of arbitration. He’ll likely land somewhere in the $8-10MM range next year.