Daulton

Varsho

Varsho is back in center field and batting seventh following a two-game absence due to left knee discomfort. The 29-year-old is hitting .262/.333/.462 with three homers, seven RBI and one steal in 19 games this season.

Blue Jays manager John Schneider told reporters that Varsho had experienced pain from his outer quad to his knee prior to Friday’s game. The 29-year-old will take a seat Friday against the Diamondbacks, and Schneider told reporters that the outfielder will likely sit a game or two to make sure he’s right.

Varsho was removed with soreness in his left leg in Friday’s game against the D-backs, and he’ll miss at least one more contest. Myles Straw will draw the start in center field and hit eighth.

Varsho said he was already feeling it prior to the game Friday, which he left in the third inning. No MRI is planned at this time, and it appears that he’s day-to-day. Myles Straw figured to start at least Saturday’s game in this place.

The Jays are stretched pretty thin in the outfield right now, so hopefully this will be a day-to-day situation. Myles Straw will play center if Varsho can’t on Saturday.

Varsho’s third homer of the season came off Jacob Misiorowski and brought the Brewers to within a run at 3-2 in the sixth. He also singled to bump his slash to .263/.333/.491 with seven RBI, and he’s picked up multiple hits in three of his last four games.

The Jays have finished the spring with either Clement of Nathan Lukes hitting in that second spot in the order between George Springer and Vladimir Guerrero Jr., which could be indicative of how they’ll line up once the regular season begins. Those lineups have had Daulton Varsho batting in the sixth slot with Kazuma Okamoto batting seventh.

Swinging harder meant more homers and more strikeouts for Varsho last year, and it certainly proved worth the tradeoff. This spring, though, he’s still swinging hard and just not missing; he’s batting .442/.489/.953 with two strikeouts in 47 plate appearances. We doubt he’ll have such an easy time once the games begin to matter, but he seems underrated at this point, especially the Jays likely to make him their usual No. 2 hitter.

Varsho usually hit in the bottom half of the Blue Jays lineup last year, but he’s making a strong case to take over the second spot in between George Springer and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. this season. He’s hitting .452/.485/.935 with just one strikeout in 33 plate appearances this spring.

Varsho ripped a Chase Stuggart cutter into the gap. He’s up to a 1.147 OPS in big-league camp. There’s plenty of power upside in Varsho’s bat, just don’t expect his .393 spring batting average to translate against big league pitching.