Blue Jays OF Daulton Varsho to open season on IL

Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Daulton Varsho will begin the season on the injured list as he continues his recovery from right shoulder surgery last September.

Toronto manager John Schneider said Saturday that Varsho needs more time for his rotator cuff to heal.

The Blue Jays want Varsho available to play center field and he's not yet ready from a throwing aspect. He won his first Gold Glove last season.

The 28-year-old has served as a designated hitter during spring training and is batting .250 with four homers and nine RBIs in 32 at-bats.

"If he were to be active and break camp, we'd been shooting for outfield games at the beginning of this week and didn't get there," Schneider said. "That being said, he's making a ton of progress with the throwing and we have a very specific plan laid out for him to hopefully join us as quickly as he can."

"If that looks like every day in center, great. If that looks like a couple of days on and off and he can DH, great. I love the adjustments he made, but with how it affects everyone else on the roster right now, it didn't make sense to keep him as a primary DH for probably a couple of weeks."

Varsho had 18 homers and 58 RBIs last season but batted just .214 in 136 games.

In five big league seasons, Varsho has a .225 career average with 79 homers and 240 RBIs across 577 games with the Arizona Diamondbacks (2020-22) and Blue Jays (2023-24).

--Field Level Media