Daulton Varsho injury news explains mid-year downturn, making Blue Jays ability to foist him on Astros even crazier

Daulton Varsho's second half of the 2026 season was no where near what anyone expected. Especially after he was dealt by the Toronto Blue Jays to the Houston Astros at the trade deadline. Varsho was putting up decent numbers to begin the year, but practically fell off a cliff after joining the Astros.

Everything has become clearer after it was reported that the 30-year-old outfielder underwent left arthroscopic wrist surgery on Tuesday. He was initially placed on the injured list on Sept. 24 due to left wrist inflammation.

The more shocking reveal was the fact that he had actually been dealing with cysts that limited his mobility with his wrist joint for the past few months, including during his time in Toronto. That in itself made the Blue Jays’ ability to foist Varsho on the Astros feel even crazier.

The Blue Jays managed to get something for an ailing Daulton Varsho at the trade deadline

Looking at the numbers, Varsho had been doing fairly well through the first three months of the season. Up until June 24th, he had compiled 31 runs scored, 15 doubles, two triples, seven home runs, 22 RBIs and seven stolen bases through 68 games. Varsho was batting at a .266 clip, the highest of his seven-year career, with a .778 OPS.

Afterwards, Varsho hit just .185 with a .515 OPS. He had 20 runs scored, eight doubles, five home runs and 18 RBIs. In 41 games with the Astros his numbers fell again with a .172 average and 12 runs scored, four doubles, five home runs and 14 RBIs. Varsho wasn’t available for Houston in their Wild Card series, in which they were quickly dispatched by the Chicago White Sox in two games.

The Blue Jays really managed to pull off some trickery to get anything back at the trade deadline. Whether it will turn out to be a steal over the long run remains to be seen. Pitcher Spencer Arrighetti struggled after the deadline with the Blue Jays.

Arrighetti recorded a 6.35 ERA, 1.54 WHIP with 19 strikeouts in 22.2 innings pitched over seven appearances. He still appears to be in the Blue Jays' long-term plans though and they'll try to get him back on track over the winter. They would love nothing more than Arrighetti to rediscover whatever it was that made him almost untouchable through the first few months of the season.

Arrighetti was named American League Pitcher of the Month in May thanks to a 4-1 record in five starts with a 0.93 ERA. But then June came around, and the reliable Arrighetti began to regress. He finished the month of June allowing 25 earned runs with a 9.00 ERA, jumping his season total to 4.94 and a trip to the IL followed to deal with Morton's neuroma, which causes nerve pain in the foot.

A fully healthy and revamped Arrighetti could turn this deal into an absolute steal for the Blue Jays - but we're a long way off from that coming to fruition at this point.

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