The Toronto Blue Jays have their centre fielder for the future.

On December 23, 2022, the Blue Jays traded then-top prospect Gabriel Moreno and fan-favourite Lourdes Gurriel Jr. to the Arizona Diamondbacks for Daulton Varsho.
Was it the right move? Well, the Arizona Diamondbacks won the National League pennant in 2023, but fell short of winning the World Series as the Texas Rangers won their first World Series in franchise history. In 2024, the Diamondbacks missed the postseason on the final day of the season, while Moreno and Gurriel Jr. had a 107 and 108 wRC+, respectively.
However, we’ll look at Daulton Varsho’s 2024 season in the latest edition of the annual Player Review season.
<h2>Daulton Varsho in 2024…</h2>
Plate Appearances: 513
Batting Average: .214
On-Base Percentage: .293
Slugging Percentage: .407
Home Runs: 18
Strikeouts: 137
Walks: 48
Fangraphs WAR: 3.3
Salary: $5,650,000
The 2023 season was an unspectacular one for Varsho, as he slashed .220/.285/.389 with 20 home runs in 581 plate appearances, along with an 85 wRC+ and a 2.1 fWAR. Much of the fWAR was made up thanks to his impressive defence, posting 18 Defensive Runs Saved (DRS) and 9 Outs Above Average (OAA) in 462.1 innings in centre. Moreover, he had 11 DRS and 1 OAA in 404.1 innings in left field, giving him a league-leading 29 DRS.
It was much of the same for Varsho in 2024 with the glove. He played 672 innings in centre field, posting 17 DRS and 5 OAA. In left field, Varsho played 404.1 innings and had 12 DRS and 10 OAA. For the second straight season, Varsho had a DRS of 29, by far the most of any outfielder in the league.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
Most DRS by outfielders in the last 2 seasons:
58 — Varsho 57 — Doyle (#2) and Tatis Jr. (#3) COMBINED
Best in the business. <a href="https://t.co/gPnFKch9bU">pic.twitter.com/gPnFKch9bU</a>
&mdash; BlueJays Muse (@BlueJays_Muse) <a href="https://twitter.com/BlueJays_Muse/status/1843778375254757577?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 8, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Not just that, but Varsho’s bat improved in 2024, as he slashed .214/.293/.407 with 18 home runs in 513 plate appearances, giving him a 99 wRC+ and a 3.3 fWAR. A big reason for his slightly below-average season with the bat is thanks to two months this season. In April, he slashed .233/.324/.500 with six home runs in 102 plate appearances for a 134 wRC+.
There’s something about months that start with “A.&#8221; Varsho also had a great August, slashing .281/.361/.469 with four home runs in 108 plate appearances for an even better 139 wRC+. However, every other month was below average when looking at wRC+.
Funnily enough, despite being a left-handed batter, Varsho had more success against left-handed pitchers than right-handed pitchers. In 104 plate appearances, Varsho slashed .287/.356/.457 with three home runs for a 134 wRC+ against lefties.
Against righties, which made up the vast majority of his plate appearances, he slashed .195/.277/.395 with 15 home runs in 409 plate appearances for a 90 wRC+. That’s just something worth monitoring in the future.
Late in the year, Varsho underwent surgery for rotator cuff surgery, an injury that had been plaguing him since late August. The hope is that he&#8217;s ready for the start of Spring Training and that this isn&#8217;t something that affects Varsho when the Blue Jays open the 2025 season. 
<hr />
As always, you can follow me on Twitter @Ryley_L_D.
<hr />
<h2 class="mb-5 text-2xl font-bold">Previously in this series…</h2>
<ul class="mb-5 list-disc pl-8">
<li class=""><a class="text-accent" href="https://bluejaysnation.com/news/blue-jays-2024-player-review-george-springer-took-another-step-back-offensively" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Player Review: George Springer took another step back offensively</a></li>
<li><a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/news/blue-jays-2024-player-review-chris-bassitt-has-emerged-as-a-valuable-leader-on-the-team">Player Review: Chris Bassitt has emerged as a valuable leader on the team</a></li>
</ul>

The Toronto Blue Jays have their centre fielder for the future.



On December 23, 2022, the Blue Jays traded then-top prospect Gabriel Moreno and fan-favourite Lourdes Gurriel Jr. to the Arizona Diamondbacks for Daulton Varsho.

Was it the right move? Well, the Arizona Diamondbacks won the National League pennant in 2023, but fell short of winning the World Series as the Texas Rangers won their first World Series in franchise history. In 2024, the Diamondbacks missed the postseason on the final day of the season, while Moreno and Gurriel Jr. had a 107 and 108 wRC+, respectively.

However, we’ll look at Daulton Varsho’s 2024 season in the latest edition of the annual Player Review season.
<h2>Daulton Varsho in 2024…</h2>
Plate Appearances: 513

Batting Average: .214

On-Base Percentage: .293

Slugging Percentage: .407

Home Runs: 18

Strikeouts: 137

Walks: 48

Fangraphs WAR: 3.3

Salary: $5,650,000

The 2023 season was an unspectacular one for Varsho, as he slashed .220/.285/.389 with 20 home runs in 581 plate appearances, along with an 85 wRC+ and a 2.1 fWAR. Much of the fWAR was made up thanks to his impressive defence, posting 18 Defensive Runs Saved (DRS) and 9 Outs Above Average (OAA) in 462.1 innings in centre. Moreover, he had 11 DRS and 1 OAA in 404.1 innings in left field, giving him a league-leading 29 DRS.

It was much of the same for Varsho in 2024 with the glove. He played 672 innings in centre field, posting 17 DRS and 5 OAA. In left field, Varsho played 404.1 innings and had 12 DRS and 10 OAA. For the second straight season, Varsho had a DRS of 29, by far the most of any outfielder in the league.

https://twitter.com/BlueJays_Muse/status/1843778375254757577

Not just that, but Varsho’s bat improved in 2024, as he slashed .214/.293/.407 with 18 home runs in 513 plate appearances, giving him a 99 wRC+ and a 3.3 fWAR. A big reason for his slightly below-average season with the bat is thanks to two months this season. In April, he slashed .233/.324/.500 with six home runs in 102 plate appearances for a 134 wRC+.

There’s something about months that start with “A." Varsho also had a great August, slashing .281/.361/.469 with four home runs in 108 plate appearances for an even better 139 wRC+. However, every other month was below average when looking at wRC+.

Funnily enough, despite being a left-handed batter, Varsho had more success against left-handed pitchers than right-handed pitchers. In 104 plate appearances, Varsho slashed .287/.356/.457 with three home runs for a 134 wRC+ against lefties.

Against righties, which made up the vast majority of his plate appearances, he slashed .195/.277/.395 with 15 home runs in 409 plate appearances for a 90 wRC+. That’s just something worth monitoring in the future.

Late in the year, Varsho underwent surgery for rotator cuff surgery, an injury that had been plaguing him since late August. The hope is that he's ready for the start of Spring Training and that this isn't something that affects Varsho when the Blue Jays open the 2025 season. 

<hr />

As always, you can follow me on Twitter @Ryley_L_D.

<hr />

<h2 class="mb-5 text-2xl font-bold">Previously in this series…</h2>
<ul class="mb-5 list-disc pl-8">
 	<li class=""><a class="text-accent" href="https://bluejaysnation.com/news/blue-jays-2024-player-review-george-springer-took-another-step-back-offensively" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Player Review: George Springer took another step back offensively</a></li>
 	<li><a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/news/blue-jays-2024-player-review-chris-bassitt-has-emerged-as-a-valuable-leader-on-the-team">Player Review: Chris Bassitt has emerged as a valuable leader on the team</a></li>
</ul>

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