Blue Jays notebook: Daulton Varsho gears up for probable Monday return
PHOENIX — Fresh off their best day at the plate this season, the Toronto Blue Jays should get another lift for their lineup Monday when Daulton Varsho is expected to return to action in the series opener at the Los Angeles Angels.
The Gold Glove centre-fielder left Friday’s 6-3 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks after two innings with left knee discomfort, but said Sunday that the tightness in his quad which led to pulling on his kneecap had eased.
Varsho and the Blue Jays considered a return for Sunday’s 10-4 win but decided “out of caution” to “not to push it.”
“I’ll probably be in the lineup (Monday),” he added.
Varsho’s been one of the Blue Jays’ steadier threats at the plate this season, batting .262/.333/.462 with three homers and four doubles, so his return will be welcome.
The quad issue was a first for him and “came out nowhere” before the game Friday after he had “a good day” of pre-game work.
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“All of a sudden it started hurting and I was like, this is not good,” he said. “I went out to the line, I'm like, I've got to test it out running-wise. I still didn't feel good. Told Schneids (manager John Schneider) before my first at-bat, I was like, 'Just letting you know, my knee's bothering me,' I already got it checked out by Jose (Ministral, the head trainer), structurally there's nothing wrong, so we're just going to test it out. After my first at-bat, the first inning, I was like, This is not working.”
He started improving Saturday and was much better Sunday, which was “the........
