Varsho takes an axe to problems at plate
BLUE JAY GOES ‘OLD SCHOOL’ IN OFF-SEASON TO IMPROVE PERFORMANCE IN BATTER’S BOX
In tiny Chili, Wis. — population 226 — there is a battered old tree that bore the brunt of Daulton Varsho’s first off-season steps toward becoming a more productive hitter.
Until the weather got too cold, Varsho would wield an axe to that strapping oak on his father Gary’s property, some aggressive swing therapy following an initial season with the Toronto Blue Jays that he thinks didn’t exactly go his way.
“The idea came from my dad as a way of getting old school and just being an athlete,” Varsho said at the Jays’ player development complex. “Get an axe in your hands and start swinging.”
As disappointed as Varsho was with his output at the plate, the unconventional work wasn’t just a release of frustration, however. There was some thought beyond the chop from Gary, a former major-league player and coach.
“I wasn’t swinging down like you would if you were trying to chop the tree, but where you are staying straight so basically the swing is staying through the zone for a longer period of time,” Varsho said. “It was 20 swings max and something where it had an athletic feel of just doing it and not thinking about it.
“You know that if you make a bad swing with that axe, it’s not going to feel good when you hit the tree. That was the thought process. That tree’s not going anywhere. It’s old and it’s hard and my dad’s going to keep it around.”
The unorthodox beginning to the off-season serves as a nice peek into Varsho’s personality, a player who won over his teammates last season with his hustle, superb defence in left field and easygoing manner. After returning from Toronto, Varsho got back to his Wisconsin roots.
“For me, every season I enjoy getting back and being out in the woods,” Varsho said. “It’s one of those things where it’s an easy way for me to decompress. I bought a piece of land there and we really enjoy it, so I was busy working on it. It’s something I enjoy with my family and that was my way to wind down.”
There was plenty of time in the off-season for Varsho to focus and regroup, a mindset he packed with him to Florida.
“Last year, if you watch a lot of my games I was underneath a lot of balls, foul-tipping pitches I should have been hammering,” said Varsho, part of the reason his dad suggested the axe therapy. “There were a ton of pitches last year that I fouled off early in the count that man, I know that I can hit those. I was basically trying to do too much.
“For me, it’s the simpler the better. When you’re able to hit a simple single through the middle, that’s when those doubles and homers come.”
To that end, Varsho has been an attentive student thus far in spring training, taking in the teachings of offensive co-ordinator Don Mattingly and listening closely to veteran Justin Turner, who has offered a veteran’s perspective to the ebbs and flows of a big-league hitter. A notoriously slow starter to his season thus far in his career, it can’t hurt that Varsho rapped out three hits in his Grapefruit League opener on Saturday.
Manager John Schneider said that Varsho has slightly altered his setup, but that most of his improvements will come from easing the self-induced burdens he often carried in 2023.
“He knows the league a little better this year and he’s trying to get the ball a little bit lower when it’s coming off his bat,” Schneider said. “You don’t want to put too much pressure on Varsh, but looking for a pretty good year from him, just taking the next step offensively.”
Varsho has plenty of support from teammates, to fans, to family.
He wins many over with his hustle, whether out of the box after making contact or his fleet footedness on defence. That asset is a family trait as well, although this one comes from the female component of the Wisconsinites.
“Growing up with two sisters who are older than me, we compete all the time,” Varsho said. “And my mom was my coach all through Little League, so she was always the one that whenever I ran slow was saying ‘Come on Daulton, let’s go.’”
As for his quiet demeanour? Apparently that also came from sisters Andie and Taylor.
“They were my older sisters and did all the talking for me,” Varsho says with a smile and a trace of that Wisconsin accent. “I am who I am and they are the reason I am who I am.”