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

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

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 catch ...

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 catc ...

for the

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Since 1989, the team has p ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

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

Arizona Diamondbacks The Arizona Diamondbacks are an American professional baseball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. The Diamondbacks compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West Division. The franchise was established ...

Amateur career

Varsho attended Marshfield High School in

Marshfield, Wisconsin Marshfield is a city in Wood County, Wisconsin, Wood and Marathon County, Wisconsin, Marathon counties in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The population was 18,929 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census; of this, 18,119 were in Wood County a ...

, graduating in 2014. He enrolled at

University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee The University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee (UW–Milwaukee, UWM, or Milwaukee) is a Public university, public Urban university, urban research university in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. It is the largest university in the Milwaukee metropo ...

, and played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played by Student athlete, student-athletes at institutions of higher education. In the United States, college baseball is sanctioned mainly by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA); in Japan, ...

for the

Milwaukee Panthers The Milwaukee Panthers are the athletic teams representing the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level, competing in the Horizon League for all sports ...

. He was named the

Horizon League The Horizon League is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I. Headquartered in Indianapolis, the league's eleven member schools are located in ...

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 The Hillsboro Hops are a Minor League Baseball team in the Pacific Northwest, northwest United States, located in Hillsboro, Oregon, a city in the Portland metropolitan area. The Hops are members of the Northwest League and are the High-A affilia ...

of the Low–A

Northwest League The Northwest League is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Northwestern United States and Western Canada. A Class A Short Season league for most of its history, the league was promoted to High-A as part of Major League Baseba ...

, where he batted .311/.368/.534 with seven

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...

s, 39

runs batted in A run batted in or runs batted in (RBI) 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 th ...

(RBI), and had a .902

on-base plus slugging On-base plus slugging (OPS) is a sabermetric baseball statistic calculated as the sum of a player's on-base percentage and slugging percentage. The ability of a player both to get on base and to hit for power, two important offensive skills, are ...

in 50 games. In 2018, Varsho played with the

Visalia Rawhide The Visalia Rawhide are a Minor League Baseball team of the California League and the Single-A affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks. They are located in Visalia, California, and have played their home games at Valley Strong Ballpark since their ...

of the High–A

California League The California League is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in California. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 until its demotion to Single-A following Major Leagu ...

, where he hit .286/.363/.451 with 11 home runs, 44 RBI, and 19

stolen base In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base unaided by other actions and the official scorer rules that the advance should be credited to the action of the runner. The umpires determine whether the runner is safe or out ...

s in 80 games. He was a mid-season All Star. Varsho spent the 2019 season with the

Jackson Generals The Jackson Generals were a professional baseball team located in Jackson, Tennessee. From 1998 to 2020, they were a part of Minor League Baseball's Southern League (SL) as the Double-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs (1998–2006), Seattle Mari ...

of the Double–A Southern League. In June, he was named to the 2019

All-Star Futures Game The All-Star Futures Game is an annual baseball exhibition game hosted by Major League Baseball (MLB) in conjunction with the mid-summer MLB All-Star Game. A team of American League-affiliated prospects competes against a team of National League- ...

. 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 RBI, 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 The United States national baseball team, also known as Team USA, represents the United States in international level baseball competitions. The team is currently ranked 5th in the world by the World Baseball Softball Confederation. The United S ...

in the

2019 WBSC Premier12 The 2019 WBSC Premier12 was an international baseball championship featuring the 12 highest-ranked national teams in the world, held by the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC). It was the second WBSC Premier12 event. The championship w ...

. The Diamondbacks promoted Varsho to the major leagues for the first time 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 (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...

. He finished the season hitting .188/.287/.366 with three home runs and nine RBI in 37 games. On August 14, 2021, Varsho caught Tyler Gilbert's no-hitter against the

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Division. ...

. In 2022 he led the majors in percentage of balls pulled (54.5%), and batted .235/.302/.443 with 27 home runs and 74 RBI. 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

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 before being traded to the Diamondba ...

. On January 13, 2023, Varsho signed a one-year, $3.05 million contract with the Blue Jays, avoiding salary arbitration. In 2023, he batted .229/.298/.416 with 20 home runs, 61 RBI, and 16 stolen bases, and led the AL in bunt hits with 11. Varsho played in 136 contests for the Blue Jays in 2024, slashing .214/.293/.407 with 18 home runs, 58 RBI, and 10 stolen bases. On September 17, 2024, it was announced that Varsho would be undergoing surgery to repair a

rotator cuff The rotator cuff (SITS muscles) is a group of muscles and their tendons that act to stabilize the human shoulder and allow for its extensive range of motion. Of the seven scapulohumeral muscles, four make up the rotator cuff. The four muscles a ...

injury in his right shoulder, ending his season.

Personal life

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

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 Miami Marlins, Florida Marlins (199 ...

, 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 Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Dunedin Blue Jays players Eau Claire Express players Hillsboro Hops players Jackson Generals (Southern League) players Major League Baseball catchers Major League Baseball outfielders 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