Daulton John Varsho (born July 2, 1996) is an American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professiona ...

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to c ...

and

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the catcher ...

for the Toronto Blue Jays of

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL) ...

(MLB). He made his MLB debut in 2020 with the

Arizona Diamondbacks The Arizona Diamondbacks (colloquially known as the D-backs) are an American professional baseball team based in Phoenix. The Diamondbacks compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. ...

Amateur career

Varsho attended Marshfield High School in Marshfield, Wisconsin, graduating in 2014. He enrolled at University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, and played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional pl ...

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. In 2017 he batted .362/.490/.643.

Professional career

Arizona Diamondbacks

The

selected Varsho in the second round, with the 68th overall selection, of the 2017 Major League Baseball (MLB) draft. 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 run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run is ...

s, 39

runs batted in A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the ba ...

(RBIs), and had a .902 on-base plus slugging in 50 games. In 2018, Varsho played with the Visalia Rawhide of the Class A-Advanced California League, where he hit .286/.363/.451 with 11 home runs, 44 RBIs, and 19 stolen bases in 80 games. He was a mid-season All Star. Varsho spent the 2019 season with the Jackson Generals of the

Class AA Double-A (officially Class AA) is the second-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States since 1946, below only Triple-A. There are currently 30 teams classified at the Double-A level, one for each team in Major League ...

Southern League. In June, he was named to the 2019 All-Star Futures Game. In August, the Diamondbacks began to play Varsho as a

center fielder A center fielder, abbreviated CF, is the outfielder in baseball who plays defense in center field – the baseball and softball fielding position between left field and right field. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the ...

in addition to catcher. He batted .301/.378/.520 with 18 home runs, 58 RBIs, and 21 stolen bases in 396 at bats. After the season, on October 10, 2019, he was selected for the United States national baseball team in the 2019 WBSC Premier12. The Diamondbacks promoted Varsho to the major leagues on July 30, 2020. He made his major league debut that night against the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brookly ...

. 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. 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. He played 71 games in right field, 54 in center field, 31 at catcher, and 15 at DH.

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 Gabriel José Moreno (born February 14, 2000) is a Venezuelan professional baseball catcher for the Arizona Diamondbacks of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his MLB debut with the Toronto Blue Jays in 2022. Professional career Toronto Blue Ja ...

. On January 13, 2023, Varsho signed a one-year, $3.05 million contract with the Blue Jays, avoiding salary arbitration.

Personal life

He is the son of former MLB outfielder, manager, and coach Gary Varsho, and is named for

Darren Daulton Darren Arthur Daulton (January 3, 1962 – August 6, 2017), nicknamed "Dutch", was an American professional baseball catcher who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Phillies (, –) and Florida Marlins (1997). While with ...

, his father's former teammate.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Varsho, Daulton 1996 births Living people Arizona Diamondbacks players Arizona League Diamondbacks players Baseball players from Wisconsin Eau Claire Express players Hillsboro Hops players Jackson Generals (Southern League) players Major League Baseball catchers Milwaukee Panthers baseball players People from Clark County, Wisconsin People from Marshfield, Wisconsin Salt River Rafters players Toronto Blue Jays players United States national baseball team players Visalia Rawhide players 2019 WBSC Premier12 players