Blue Jays outfielder Daulton Varsho on BIG offensive pivot, Return timetable, Scherzer convos

00:00:00
Speaker 1: It's just like there was no ball that was hit that like we couldn't get to. So that also helped because I mean the pitty were able to. Then here here's my page, go hit it.

00:00:13
Speaker 2: We've got Dalton bar Show from the Blue Jays joining us right now. Dond, great to have you on and welcome to the debut host day for Wit Merryfield.

00:00:21
Speaker 3: Perfect timing. How you doing, man doing awesome? I was just down here in Florida soaking up the sun right now. There you go.

00:00:28
Speaker 2: Did you like my intro of you?

00:00:29
Speaker 3: Or WIT's better of you?

00:00:31
Speaker 4: Uh?

00:00:33
Speaker 1: What is probably just a little bit more mean, but uh, you know, I mean that's just Wit. I mean, if you play with him, you know exactly, it's just you got to give it right back to him.

00:00:44
Speaker 2: What was your scatting report of Wit as a teammate? And actually he was just telling us some crazy story about how he took a bite of all of Zach Wheeler's chicken fingers, So did he do any of that crap with you guys?

00:00:58
Speaker 1: He was definitely like the big brother there that wanted to be the big brother, but definitely was like the little brother that did all the pranks. So you just put him in a headlock and you put him back in his place, and you're good.

00:01:09
Speaker 5: Me and Dalton used to we used to wrestle, and Dalton was so mad that he he was a wrestler in high school. And he's lower to the ground and he's more sturdy, and I would still take him down. And now that now, congratulations, Dalton. Dalton's a new father. He's got a daughter, so now he's even softer than he was before. So Dalton, you got when I come back to Toronto, you got no shot?

00:01:29
Speaker 1: Yeah, the girl that definitely is a definitely a big thing of where he kind of take a little bit on the softer side. But you know, if Wit comes in the clubhoufs, I think another wrestling match is probably good. But you know, if he stays away from the left hand string, were good.

00:01:44
Speaker 3: Exactly.

00:01:45
Speaker 5: There you go.

00:01:46
Speaker 6: So how long, Dalton? How long have have you been sideline?

00:01:48
Speaker 5: Now?

00:01:50
Speaker 3: Uh? Since June first?

00:01:53
Speaker 5: Do you think if you'd had a boy, you'd be back by now? Probably because you had a girl.

00:01:59
Speaker 1: You just now, well the girl, I mean she just laid lays in the arms and falls asleep. Boy, you actually have to probably follow around and have to pick him up, put him back down.

00:02:09
Speaker 3: So but she is a big girl, so I'll give her that she is.

00:02:13
Speaker 1: She is the full weight in full length of But I don't know where she gets that from, not from me, but hopefully that's on my wife's side.

00:02:22
Speaker 2: So probably have good hops. That's in the genetics. So what's the timetable? What do you got for us?

00:02:29
Speaker 1: Obviously we're kind of ramping up here with a leg. I think running bases this next week. Again, tweaked it a little bit on Monday, so just kind of shut it down, got amri. Everything looks fine going up uphill, a little bit inflammation still in there, but still doing lives defense. Just waiting to kind of be able to get up to one hundred percent running feed and when that's able to go, I'm good to go in the rehab seven.

00:02:53
Speaker 2: Okay, so I'm assuming you've been able to watch every game, right? Do you rehab your all your work and then you're watching most of the Blue Jays games?

00:03:00
Speaker 3: Actually a night? What do you think? I mean?

00:03:02
Speaker 2: You know we're at June what twenty six? So the last few weeks they look pretty strong. They vaulted themselves into a really good race for either a wild card or for a division spot, as the Yankees had taken a step back too.

00:03:14
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean just watching the games.

00:03:16
Speaker 1: I think early on for us, the problem was that we kind of kind of let the media kind of bleed in a little bit of like we needed all this power, And if you watched our games early on, we played a lot of small ball.

00:03:27
Speaker 3: And we were able to move runners, do all little things right.

00:03:31
Speaker 1: And when that was able to happen, it was just so fun to watch because that's what we were doing in spring. And so the way that we've been playing now, like we yeah, we're hitting a little bit more homers, but that's coming on mistakes on the pitching side of just being able to kind of take advantage of that. And we ran through a good chunk of time where we were facing really good teams and their pitchers are on and sometimes that happens. And just honestly now just watching the games, we're doing everything right. Pitching's great, defense has been awesome, and we're just obviously hitting a little bit more homers and it's it's working out for our team and it's been really fun to watch even though that I'm here, but when I was back there. It was so fun to be with that team because we were doing a lot of little things right.

00:04:15
Speaker 5: Darn Let me let me piggyback on that, because when I was there, starting in twenty two, before the year before you got there, I felt like probably the biggest crutch that Trot was holding Toronto back at the time was there full lean on soul analytics and just doing things by the analytical book. Based on the way you were just talking about the small wall and stuffs, has that feel.

00:04:44
Speaker 6: Softened a little bit?

00:04:47
Speaker 3: I would say so. I think.

00:04:49
Speaker 1: I mean we've been the last couple of years I've been here, a lot of the kind of emphasis has been on.

00:04:54
Speaker 3: Base running and defense.

00:04:55
Speaker 1: And honestly, when Kevin Kiermer I was here, he was out in center housing left Georgia's and you spent a little time and left.

00:05:02
Speaker 3: When I was in center, it's just.

00:05:03
Speaker 1: Like there was no ball that was hit that like we couldn't get to. So that also helped, because I mean the pitchers were able to then here here's my.

00:05:10
Speaker 3: Pitch, go hit it.

00:05:12
Speaker 1: And so obviously adding a guy like Max Scherzer where like he's able to move me now, and we've had these conversations when I was kind of hurt and coming in through spring where I wasn't able to play defense, but he's like, Hey, I'm gonna throw a pitch here, I'm gonna move you for one pitch, and then you go back to where the card kind of tells you. So it's honestly great to have guys like that because then you're able to play defense in a total different way and just more aggressively to what the pitcher's doing. And so I think that's where our kind of kind of gotten better, especially with.

00:05:42
Speaker 3: Our infield play this year.

00:05:43
Speaker 1: And you've got guys like Ernie Barger who's kind of gone into third base and have excelled a lot really there, and now you have a Platinum Glover and a Menez at second helping Boett short, and then you got a goog Glover of Vladie at first. So I think the defense and the base running part is what has made our team a ton better.

00:06:00
Speaker 6: How much did you love me playing left beside you, Dalton?

00:06:04
Speaker 1: I really want to find that play where you threw your glove up when I called you out on that ball, Like me and George haven't found that play yet. But I'm waiting to find it so that I can just create it into a meme so that you guys can use it.

00:06:14
Speaker 6: All the time, I hated I hated the outfield.

00:06:19
Speaker 5: I hated it, and they kept running me out there, and I just, you know, I wanted to to make it fun, and so I just wanted to mess with you when I was out there.

00:06:26
Speaker 1: Yeah, because you're at least a little bit good at that. I mean, you could play a little bit, and they needed you.

00:06:31
Speaker 3: To play on.

00:06:37
Speaker 4: You Dalton, Dalton, when when when Witt was out there, did you know I have to cover the whole outfield like I could? You couldn't just cover center field? What was it the catch you made like this behind your back right? You also knew you had to cover the whole left field, and you're like, all right, George can cover right, But I've just left the center and I got the whole thing.

00:06:55
Speaker 3: For the most part.

00:06:56
Speaker 1: You just had to make sure it was paying attention with the picture of the ball, because he was always looking in the stands trying to see who was out there, and so all the.

00:07:05
Speaker 3: Time was like, Wit, you got to move over.

00:07:07
Speaker 1: And so like I was the one that was moving and He's like, what and so, But now it was fun. I mean, we always had a fun time when there's always pitching changes. We always full around with each other out there and made fun and waved.

00:07:19
Speaker 3: Out the crowd and stuff like that. And they always made fun of me.

00:07:21
Speaker 1: I was the little brother to both of them, so it was always fun for me and being out there with both of them because they just they made me feel just so welcome and it was just always fun out there.

00:07:30
Speaker 3: It was just one of those things where.

00:07:32
Speaker 1: You just like guys because they treat you a certain way.

00:07:37
Speaker 2: If you're a card collector, even if you're not, and you just want to find a new way to collect. Arena Club is the spot. AJ just opened up a slab pack he screened recorded on his phone so you can all see what he just experienced.

00:07:47
Speaker 3: Take us through it.

00:07:47
Speaker 6: It was simple.

00:07:48
Speaker 4: I just clicked on which slab pack I wanted, clicked by now boom bought it card. Little pack starts spinning, you hit open, and then it goes all psychedelic on you.

00:07:58
Speaker 3: It's a little funny and then.

00:08:00
Speaker 4: The card appears and I got a Robin Yelt Rookie car.

00:08:03
Speaker 2: Yeah, you did it awesome and then right after that experience, I saw the little buy back and you said, hold on to this for now.

00:08:10
Speaker 3: Hold on his robinots in the Hall of Fame.

00:08:12
Speaker 4: He's not getting any more rookie cards, so I'm gonna stick with it for a little bit.

00:08:16
Speaker 3: So you have the price might start just going up a little bit.

00:08:19
Speaker 2: Yep, you can track that, and of course if you do want to do the buy back, then you can instantly sell it right back to Arena Club. Get yourself another slab pack, buy card, whatever it is. This is the spot for collectors these days, and you can use the code foul foul to get yourself twenty percent off your first slab pack or card purchase at arenaclub dot com slash foul.

00:08:37
Speaker 3: Hey, so.

00:08:39
Speaker 2: You've got a real old man on the team right now, just made his return. I know he did the start early on this year and then he got himself right here. Has it to have Max Schurzer back on the mound for the boys.

00:08:51
Speaker 3: And it looked pretty good. Velo looked pretty good.

00:08:53
Speaker 2: I think he topped out at ninety five and then heard that he felt okay after the start. So that's a nice boost for the rotation, right huge boost.

00:09:01
Speaker 1: I mean just having another consistent arm, being able to go out there and throwing five plus innings.

00:09:06
Speaker 3: I mean, he looked great. I remember, I.

00:09:08
Speaker 1: Mean I was facing him here when I originally got hurt, and he looked really good and everything felt good. So that was kind of the biggest thing is having him after his start feeling good.

00:09:18
Speaker 3: So it will be a huge boost for us.

00:09:20
Speaker 1: I mean, he's just another guy that can help all of our younger guys.

00:09:23
Speaker 3: To be able to develop and understand things.

00:09:26
Speaker 1: And he's just different, like he just there's a reason why he's pitching until he's forty is just that he's so successful being able to make pitches look very similar and being able to be successful with that just being able to pitch. And that's what's so fun to see, is like a guy who doesn't always have like ninety seven, but he's able to pitch off of it.

00:09:46
Speaker 3: And so I mean we were talking about you guys were talking about before the mis kid.

00:09:50
Speaker 1: He's actually pitching at one hundred miles an hour, which is unbelievable because it's just like now, you see a lot of throwers in this game, and you don't see as many pitchers.

00:10:00
Speaker 2: So Max comes on this show every once in a while and it's usually like an hour. I mean most of the time we do our player in and it's like ten fifteen minutes. But Max, we got to block out like an hour. And I know that makes sense to you. We had we had Schneids on the other day too, and he's like, yeah, once once a game, like if he's in town, you know, and he's not rehabbing.

00:10:17
Speaker 3: I got thirty to sixty with him. He pops into the office.

00:10:20
Speaker 2: So any Max combos that you had that you can take us inside because I know he likes talking ball too, Like, hey, he's almost like a if I were commissioner kind of guy.

00:10:31
Speaker 1: Yeah, he's so he is the definition of like an analytical person that can talk baseball. And I think that's what's so cool about him is that he knows exactly what the hitter wants to do, so he's able to move guys in certain places to be able to do it. So we talked every day when I was up there because he was there still rehabbing, but he was moving me in the outfield just because like our cars are placed in certain spots. But he knew kind of like how Bassett wanted to throw, so he kind of knew, okay, let's let's push you over here. So like there was a big one with like Riley Green or like a certain count, He's like, hey, get over to that gap because that's where he hits this That's where he.

00:11:14
Speaker 3: Hits a lot of balls into this count.

00:11:15
Speaker 1: And so it's kind of cool to see like having any adjustments from pitch one to pitch two. And obviously you see that in the center field of what guys want to do.

00:11:25
Speaker 3: But obviously to kind of.

00:11:26
Speaker 1: Go through all the information and the analytical part and being able to make the adjustment so fast.

00:11:33
Speaker 4: That's what veterans are good for. That's what veterans are good for.

00:11:36
Speaker 3: Dalton.

00:11:36
Speaker 4: So you got you got a couple, I guess veteran guys Bow and Vladdie. You've kind of gotten going here a little bit once the season. How good can they be? How good can this duo be for the Blue Jays?

00:11:47
Speaker 1: I mean, I mean think, I think for the three years I've been here, when they're both going really well, I mean, Lady brings the power and.

00:11:54
Speaker 3: Bo just gets on.

00:11:55
Speaker 1: And so now you see Bo kind of tapping in a little bit of that power where it's just.

00:11:59
Speaker 3: Like it's just happening.

00:12:00
Speaker 1: I mean, we all know his hitters, like we don't try to hit homers. When you do try to hit homers, that's when we kind of go into the spiral spin of like, all right, what am I doing again?

00:12:09
Speaker 3: And so when Bo hitting these.

00:12:11
Speaker 1: Homers are all an accident and it's just like, all right, now you got to deal with Bo at the top and Vlaty at third. And honestly, the move of Barger hitting second was huge. I mean, to be able to put a left in between those guys, I mean, it's just now it's tough because now you've got three guys in a row where it's like Barger's gonna take us hacks, Laddie's gonna take his hats, and Bow's gonna get on.

00:12:31
Speaker 3: So it's really cool to kind.

00:12:33
Speaker 1: Of see and see it's kind of the momentum that we've kind of created as a group and being able to win a lot of ball games and doing really work.

00:12:42
Speaker 2: Hey, what did you think of Laddie's extension? And you know, obviously you guys are gonna be teammates for a while. Now do you try and like ho came to take you out to dinner or do something a little more often. I mean maybe off season, a little boat hangout, something like that. He certainly got the cash flow to be able to take care of you these days.

00:13:02
Speaker 1: Yeah, he's he's just a normal like he is the definition of a kid that's stuck in an adult's body. He is the ultimate kind of prankster. He's a good he's just one of the best teammates. I mean, he's always happy, go lucky. He's just one of those guys where he deserves it because he's played really well and he's done and showed everything that he could. And he doesn't take the money for granted because he's still gonna play hard every day. I think you see kind of that trap a little bit where guys get the money and he stops working. I think that's a total opposite for him to where he's trying to get better and trying to be the best version of himself. And you're seeing it now. I mean, it's not all power anymore. And now he's like taking his walks, he's moving runners, he's just doing everything right that you want your five hundred million dollar player to do. And so It's really cool to see and I try to get out of him every once in a while, just like with the base running parks, I.

00:13:57
Speaker 3: Feel like I can help him with that. But other that, I mean, he's just an alimate teammate.

00:14:04
Speaker 6: Dalton.

00:14:04
Speaker 5: I don't know if many people know. I mean, I'm sure most people do that know you or followed the Blue Jays, but used to be a catcher, and I know that you loved it when. So when you were catching, that takes up all your time when and now you're such a good defensive centerfield, they're probably the best in the league. How hard was that transition? Were you able to do some centerfield stuff when you were catching? And how long have you been doing both of those things?

00:14:33
Speaker 3: Yeah?

00:14:34
Speaker 1: So I started playing a little outfield in twenty nineteen when I was in Jackson, Tennessee in Double A, and that was kind of the time when we had Carson Kelly and Stephen Vote in Arizona. So the way kind of for me to get to the big leagues was to be able to play another position and kind of give the depth of kind of being available to be able to catch and also play all three outfield positions. So obviously when I got to the big leagues, it was kind of playing a little bit more left and center, not really right. And then alk Thomas got caught up and I got moved to right, and so I was starting to play all three positions. I figured out my footwork and all that stuff to be able to kind of do really well out there. But the hardest part was when I had to catch to start the game and then go play outfield, because you're so exhausted from catching for like seven innings and it's like, hey, go run out for the outfield for the rest of the innings. And so that was always the tough part of just the body wise of adjusting to that period because it's more up down and it's not really side to side as much for like sprinting wise, that's kind of what was hard, just because it kind of took a toll on your body.

00:15:41
Speaker 3: A little bit.

00:15:41
Speaker 1: But other than that, I mean, there was a time where I caught thirty games and then all of a sudden, I was like, Okay, go play out field the rest of the year. So obviously there was times where like I could do outfield stuff, but when I was catching, I was kind of basically catching at that point, and it's like, all right, go play outfield and go be an athlete.

00:16:01
Speaker 4: How bored do you get? How bored do you get being an outfitter? Because I know this is a catcher only caught. If I had to go stand out in the outfit, I would have been like home, I would have been like w out there, I'd be like looking in, look at the butterfly. I'm gonna pick the flower. How bored do you get when you when you go from catching to the outfield.

00:16:19
Speaker 1: I actually don't get as bored. I think it's a less uh stressful position. But I still obviously still follow kind of how our pitchers are pitching, and I still kind of have that part of my brain moving of like, all right, when I see Bassett throw inside too, seem's going to back it up and double up or is he gonna throw a cutter or something off of that. So I'm always still kind of playing kind of catcher out there of kind of like what the pitcher's pitching and how I'm gonna be able to kind of move and kind of cheat a little bit. So I think that's one of the coolest things, is like that part of my brain hasn't shut off, and I hope it doesn't, but just kind of trusting that I can be able to kind of stay out there and obviously try to get the best jumps I can, and so I'm trying to cheat as much as I can.

00:17:05
Speaker 2: Do You ever wish that you could still do it like that, you could still do both, you know now with the Jays, and you're like, yeah, I'm happy I just got one gig, especially as you get older, And yeah, it probably makes.

00:17:16
Speaker 3: It a little easier to focus on the bad at times too.

00:17:18
Speaker 1: Right, Yeah, I think I had enough file tips and back swings to the head that I'm good of not going back there. But obviously I'm still the emergency guy. So there was a couple of times the last two years when the next thing was going to be Romano and I'm like, oh gosh, I have to catch him, all right, how am I going to do this? And so like I'm asking Kirky and Danny Jansen, I'm like, all right, what do I need to call here?

00:17:43
Speaker 3: What do I need to do? Trying to figure out the Skytyport skyder.

00:17:46
Speaker 1: Report all in like two minutes, And so I'm kind of good on that part. Of where I don't have to coddle pitchers anymore. I can just go be a defensive player and go and enjoy the outfit with the boys.

00:18:00
Speaker 3: All right, I got one.

00:18:00
Speaker 2: More for you, Uh, George Springer, another man who's been around the game for a minute. Actually bring Witt in for a second. Do you remember, because the connection with you and me obviously is the Cape League and chat out to John Shiffney, your manager. There's bench coach at Whereham now or sorry, at Brewster now Whereham is where George Springer was though, So wait, you and you and George go way back.

00:18:21
Speaker 6: No, we do go way back. Yeah, we go so far back.

00:18:25
Speaker 5: You probably had hair when when when we were playing against each other in the Cape. That guys, that guy's two haircuts, two haircuts away from being full on ball and I saw him the other day. It's not good, Dalton.

00:18:38
Speaker 6: Tell him.

00:18:39
Speaker 1: I told him it's time I get to actually buzz this hair when it's time.

00:18:43
Speaker 3: He's agreed to it.

00:18:45
Speaker 6: Good.

00:18:45
Speaker 4: Wow.

00:18:46
Speaker 2: Okay, So, so where's the fountain of youth for him coming from this year?

00:18:51
Speaker 3: Obviously he's he's had a big year. Yeah. Our new hitting coach is David Popkins.

00:18:56
Speaker 1: And Loui and Otie, they really kind of unlocked some things for him of just telling them just get your a swing off. That's all we need you to do. Get your a swing off, and whatever happens happens. And so you'll see a couple of times where he lands on his knee, but you know that he's getting his a swing off and he's trusting everything that he's he's going into it.

00:19:15
Speaker 3: And you saw the.

00:19:16
Speaker 1: Grand Slam the other night, I mean it was awesome, like just to be able to see him kind of back to who he was because when I was catching, I mean I was having to face him in the Astros lineup, and I was like, man, how do you get any of these guys out? Because they're one either taking hacks or two they are backing that ball up and they are crushing an opposite field and it's like, I don't even know what to do.

00:19:36
Speaker 3: I don't even know what to call. So obviously seeing kind of that side of.

00:19:39
Speaker 1: Him when he was younger and being able to do that stuff and now seeing it again, it's so cool, and it's I get a front row seat to it and I get to ask him a ton of questions of kind of just picking his brain and being able to kind of better myself.

00:19:53
Speaker 3: All right, here's the big finish. You got something show and tell what? Well?

00:19:58
Speaker 6: I just we were talking about and catch.

00:20:00
Speaker 5: And it was funny because his first spring training, it was like we had this Jay'scare presentation and it was like they knew that or they were trying to show Dalton as a catcher and try to foreshadow, you know, hey, Dalt, we might need you as a catcher. And they put this picture up and it was just cute little Dalton catching in his in his cute little mask. Mean, look at that, Look at that that is that is that is cute little Dalton VARs show right there in his mask.

00:20:29
Speaker 6: This was This was like a couple of weeks into No.

00:20:31
Speaker 5: One Dalton, and we're already we're already giving him a hard time about just being this cute little guy.

00:20:37
Speaker 6: He does he does look like it looks just like Dalton, doesn't it.

00:20:45
Speaker 3: Hey know, the funny thing is about me catching.

00:20:47
Speaker 1: MLB posted uh something about Fanna tattoo sitting three homers in a game, and I was a catcher, and I'm like, man, that was I feel like that was so long ago. And I was like, I gave him three Homer pitches. Man, that is not good on me.

00:21:00
Speaker 6: Bad fingers, well bad buttons Now not fingers anymore.

00:21:04
Speaker 2: Now was buttons, and you don't have to worry about it anymore. All right, we got one more, one more piece of video to show you on the way out here all the show and tell's coming in hot that we got to catch.

00:21:16
Speaker 3: Here we go, all right, walk us through this one. How do you do this?

00:21:19
Speaker 1: Tell the kids, Oh, you get really embarrassed, you trip over your feet, and you still how to figure out some way how to catch it. So obviously not not really something you want to practice or want to do, but all those times of probably just falling over and trying to figure out how to be successful.

00:21:39
Speaker 3: Kind of helped some way.

00:21:42
Speaker 1: I saw the ball coming down this kind of guess where it was coming, and stuck my glove out and went in.

00:21:47
Speaker 3: I was like, oh, thank the Lord.

00:21:49
Speaker 6: All those times I throw you on the ground out and they paid off.

00:21:53
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, just making sure that I can put you in a headlock still when one of these days you're going to be back on that ground and throwing a clall us, I'm.

00:22:02
Speaker 5: Gonna spend all my free time taking up wrestling in jiu jitsu. Put you in a pretzel.

00:22:09
Speaker 7: When it's gonna get jacked, you can do whatever now you could do being' gonna get jacked. He's got too much time with his little girl.

00:22:20
Speaker 3: That's true.

00:22:21
Speaker 2: And golf, which is not gonna make you jack. But dal and this was great, man. Thanks for joining us here for the first time.

00:22:27
Speaker 3: Awesome to have you.

00:22:27
Speaker 2: I'll have you back at some point, and I had you think.

00:22:30
Speaker 3: With it on a questioning I'll give him like a C plus a little better questions out of it.

00:22:37
Speaker 6: But get healthy. Get healthy. You got too much time.

00:22:43
Speaker 3: Incredible, incredible.

00:22:45
Speaker 2: Thanks Dom, Appreciate you, Man, appreciate it.

00:22:47
Speaker 3: Thank you guys.