It&#8217;s official. Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Daulton Varsho has (finally) been recognized as the best defender from the 2024 season. 
Varsho received not one but two accolades from the Fielding Bible Awards committee on Thursday &#8212; the Multi-Position Award and the Defensive Player of the Year, cementing his status as one of the top defenders from this past season, if not the best.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
The Best In The Business 👏
Daulton Varsho has won TWO Fielding Bible Awards: The Multi-Position Award AND Defensive Player of the Year! <a href="https://t.co/9eXVvSp5xt">pic.twitter.com/9eXVvSp5xt</a>
— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) <a href="https://twitter.com/BlueJays/status/1849528723919311102?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 24, 2024</a></blockquote>
The committee, organized through Sports Info Solutions, <a href="https://www.sportsinfosolutions.com/2024/10/24/2024-fielding-bible-award-winners/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">votes on the top defensive player at each position based on multiple factors</a>, including statistical analysis and the eye test. This year marks the 19th season they&#8217;ve honoured baseball&#8217;s most outstanding defenders from the previous campaign.
Varsho, without question, is more than deserving of this achievement. Though he split time at all three outfield positions, spreading his value across each individually, he totalled <a href="https://www.fangraphs.com/leaders/major-league?pos=all&amp;stats=fld&amp;lg=all&amp;type=1&amp;season=2024&amp;month=0&amp;season1=2024&amp;ind=0&amp;sortcol=12&amp;sortdir=default&amp;qual=1000&amp;pagenum=1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a major-league-best plus-28 defensive runs saved</a> while recording plus-16 outs above average, tied for second-most among big-league outfielders. He also earned a plus-17 fielding run value, the<a href="https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/leaderboard/fielding-run-value" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> highest among all non-catchers</a> in the sport.
In total, the 28-year-old outfielder compiled 1,085.1 innings in the field during his second season with the Blue Jays, committing just a pair of errors &#8212; one more than he was charged with in 2023.
Earlier this month, <a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/news/daulton-varsho-and-ernie-clement-named-gold-glove-finalists" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Rawlings named Varsho a finalist</a> for the American League Gold Glove Award in centre field, with Houston&#8217;s Jake Myers and Boston&#8217;s Jarren Duran as the other two finalists.
Since Varsho spent over 400 of his total innings in left, there&#8217;s a chance he could come up short of winning his first career Gold Glove for the second straight year. But we won&#8217;t know officially until the awards are announced on Nov. 3 on ESPN.

It's official. Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Daulton Varsho has (finally) been recognized as the best defender from the 2024 season. 

Varsho received not one but two accolades from the Fielding Bible Awards committee on Thursday -- the Multi-Position Award and the Defensive Player of the Year, cementing his status as one of the top defenders from this past season, if not the best.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
The Best In The Business 👏
Daulton Varsho has won TWO Fielding Bible Awards: The Multi-Position Award AND Defensive Player of the Year! <a href="https://t.co/9eXVvSp5xt">pic.twitter.com/9eXVvSp5xt</a>

— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) <a href="https://twitter.com/BlueJays/status/1849528723919311102?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 24, 2024</a></blockquote>
The committee, organized through Sports Info Solutions, <a href="https://www.sportsinfosolutions.com/2024/10/24/2024-fielding-bible-award-winners/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">votes on the top defensive player at each position based on multiple factors</a>, including statistical analysis and the eye test. This year marks the 19th season they've honoured baseball's most outstanding defenders from the previous campaign.

Varsho, without question, is more than deserving of this achievement. Though he split time at all three outfield positions, spreading his value across each individually, he totalled <a href="https://www.fangraphs.com/leaders/major-league?pos=all&amp;stats=fld&amp;lg=all&amp;type=1&amp;season=2024&amp;month=0&amp;season1=2024&amp;ind=0&amp;sortcol=12&amp;sortdir=default&amp;qual=1000&amp;pagenum=1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a major-league-best plus-28 defensive runs saved</a> while recording plus-16 outs above average, tied for second-most among big-league outfielders. He also earned a plus-17 fielding run value, the<a href="https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/leaderboard/fielding-run-value" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> highest among all non-catchers</a> in the sport.

In total, the 28-year-old outfielder compiled 1,085.1 innings in the field during his second season with the Blue Jays, committing just a pair of errors -- one more than he was charged with in 2023.

Earlier this month, <a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/news/daulton-varsho-and-ernie-clement-named-gold-glove-finalists" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Rawlings named Varsho a finalist</a> for the American League Gold Glove Award in centre field, with Houston's Jake Myers and Boston's Jarren Duran as the other two finalists.

Since Varsho spent over 400 of his total innings in left, there's a chance he could come up short of winning his first career Gold Glove for the second straight year. But we won't know officially until the awards are announced on Nov. 3 on ESPN.

Blue Jays’ Daulton Varsho named Defensive Player of the Year by Fielding Bible Awards

Recent articles from Thomas Hall

Breaking News