This is the version of Daulton Varsho the Blue Jays traded for

Toronto Blue Jays center fielder Daulton Varsho has been one of the most impactful and exciting players in baseball this season since he made his season debut at the end of April, which has been a huge boon for the Blue Jays.

While Varsho's always had the tools needed to be successful, he's wasn't able to put it all together in either of his first two seasons in Toronto.

That hasn't been the case so far in 2025, as the 28-year-old has hit six home runs in just 13 games and is once again looking like a world-class defender.

Here's a look at what's been different for Varsho this year.

This is the version of Daulton Varsho the Blue Jays traded for

The Blue Jays acquired Varsho in December 2022 in a trade with the Arizona Diamondbacks that sent catching prospect Gabriel Moreno and outfielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr. to the desert.

The move was panned at the time due to Moreno's status as a top prospect and Gurriel's success with the Blue Jays. But it was clear that Varsho was no slouch himself.

Varsho played in 283 games with the Diamondbacks across 2020, '21 and '22 and he recorded 214 hits, 41 home runs, and 121 RBI in that span. The Blue Jays traded for him off the back of a 27 home run season in 2022 (which is still his career-high where he also recorded 18 Outs Above Average in the outfield.

And while that stellar defense has carried over to his time in Toronto.

He's been worth 40 Outs Above Average since joining the Blue Jays, and won a Gold Glove in 2024 along with earning the American League's Platinum Glove.

He's already made a great impression this year by making a ridiculous catch in his first game back from the injured list, and he's continued to make the impressive look routine in the time since. He's been worth three Outs Above Average so far this year.

But it's his offensive production that's held him back during his time in Toronto.

Varsho entered the year with a .217/.289/.398 slashline to go along with 38 home runs and 119 RBI in 294 games with the Blue Jays. His OPS+ of 97 kind of tells the whole story; he was good, but not good enough.

That's changed this year. Along with mashing a team-leading six home runs in just 14 games, Varsho's slugging .635 and would rank in the top percentile in expected slugging and barrel rate if he had enough at-bats to qualify for Baseball Savant's leaderboards.

And according to a new article from Sportsnet's Shi Davidi, new hitting coach David Popkins has played a huge part in helping Varsho find the same success he had in Arizona.

“Every time a player has success, there are typically clues that are left behind — success tends to do that,” Popkins told Davidi. “And it's trying to see in these multiple windows in different time periods, how has he moved and are the moves similar? Like, hey, when he moves really small into his back-side, it's been good this year, this year and this year. Completely different swings, but the same movement. You collect as many of those as you can, and you see the starting point that's natural to him.”

Varsho's offensive struggles in his past couple years can be tied back to his swing being flat, and it seems like Popkins helped him get to point where his swing is dangerous again. And his stats so far this year are proof of that.

While the Blue Jays have danced around the .500 mark this year, Varsho's offensive resurgence has been one of the few bright spots around the team.