Varsh-woah: Jays' left fielder makes incredible catch in Seattle

SEATTLE -- Thump.

Daulton Varsho collided with the wall so hard that everyone at T-Mobile Park felt like it had happened to them, all recoiling like it was their own bones crunching together in that car crash. Then, he popped right up.

He caught that?!

Varsho’s running catch in the bottom of the first, going full speed into the wall in left-center, might be the defensive play of the year for the Blue Jays. We’re well past the days of silver linings for these Blue Jays, who lost 2-1 to fall to 39-49 -- a season-high 10 games below .500 -- but there’s no better time to acknowledge what Varsho’s teammates and coaches keep campaigning.

“Varsho is the best outfielder in baseball,” said John Schneider, and it’s not the first time he’s said that.

It’s the collision that made this play. Back in high school, Varsho was named to the 2013 Wisconsin Football Coaches Association All-State Team as a safety. Well, the hit the wall put on Varsho is what a safety dreams of.

This time, he got to be the wide receiver who somehow holds onto the ball after taking a big hit over the middle. This was Varsho, the Wisconsin boy and lifelong Green Bay Packers fan, channeling the great Donald Driver.

Football and all the other sports Varsho played growing up are part of this.

“When you play only one sport, I don’t think it helps,” Varsho said. “When you have well-rounded versatility, when you can go play tennis and play soccer, it’s different hand-eye stuff to help you in different sports. It helps your body to move in different ways. Like how it is out on the field, you have to be agile and be able to flip your hips. Playing football, being a safety and being able to track the football -- and I was a punt returner, too -- probably helped, as well.”

Luke Raley, who hit the ball, couldn’t make sense of what had happened as he rounded first and barreled toward second.

"I thought the ball fell, to be honest with you. I didn't see the ball fall but I was like, ‘Well he crashed into the wall and there's cheering,’ so I thought maybe they had a different angle or a different view,” Raley said. “And so I was even confused. Like, I kept kind of running between second and third and until the umpire made an out call."

The numbers already back up the eye test. Varsho’s 10 outs above average ties him for third among all MLB outfielders, behind only Jacob Young and Michael Siani. Friday’s catch showed us all the reasons why in one quick, convenient, chaotic package.

What the fancy stats say:

• This was Varsho’s second catch in 2024 -- and just the 14th in MLB -- with a catch probability of 5% or lower and only the third of his career.
• Varsho’s sprint speed on the play (29.4 feet/sec) was the fourth-fastest of his entire career on a putout.
• This was the third-longest distance Varsho has covered (124 feet) to record an out in his career.

Varsho is, first and foremost, a remarkable athlete. The fact he started out as a catching prospect makes it even more impressive, but whether it’s in left field or center, Varsho can get to nearly any ball with the instincts to match his physical gifts.

Jumpman, Jumpman, Jumpman

• A player’s “jump” covers the first 3.0 seconds after contact. Varsho covers 3.8 feet more than the average outfielder in those first 3.0 seconds off the bat, which comfortably ranks him No. 1 in baseball.
• We break down a player’s jump into two “reaction” and “burst”, which are first and second halves of that precious 3.0 seconds. When it comes to the burst window (1.6 to 3.0 seconds after contact), Varsho covers 2.1 feet more than the average outfielder. This ranks him third in MLB behind only Pete Crow-Armstrong and Jose Siri. Essentially, Varsho is one of the best in baseball at kicking it into fifth gear after reacting to contact.

The coming weeks and months could be painful in Toronto. That’s the reality of a 39-49 record on July 5 and there’s no hiding from it. But Varsho delivered a “wow” moment to break up the monotony of another game that looked like so many others.

That’s all Blue Jays fans will want to remember from Friday’s loss, and you might see this highlight again when the Gold Glove Awards are handed out.