{"id":60936,"date":"2023-08-23T12:00:01","date_gmt":"2023-08-23T16:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=60936"},"modified":"2023-08-23T08:45:12","modified_gmt":"2023-08-23T12:45:12","slug":"blue-jays-breakout-second-half","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2023\/08\/23\/blue-jays-breakout-second-half\/","title":{"rendered":"Blue Jays Outfielder Having a Breakout Second Half"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">A <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2023\/08\/14\/daulton-varsho-spark-offense\/\" target=\"_self\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Toronto Blue Jays<\/span><\/a> outfielder is currently having a breakout second half<span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">. In the first half of the season, he was in an offensive slump. But that&#8217;s without question changed especially in the past month with the Jays. He has inevitably proven that he has been a solid pickup by the Jays. The Jays made the bold move of acquiring him from the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2023\/08\/01\/diamondbacks-trade-sewell-mariners\/\" target=\"_self\">Arizona Diamondbacks<\/a> back in <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">December 2022<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">. Some have questioned whether the Jays won that trade, but the outfielder has given the Jays something to smile about with his much-improved second half.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>Blue Jays Outfielder Having a Breakout Second Half<\/h2>\n<h3>Sparked Offense<\/h3>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Varsho turns on the jets to get a bunt single and then steal second. \ud83d\udca8 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/Yau54lu26w\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/Yau54lu26w<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Sportsnet\/status\/1689084772004327424?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">August 9, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Looking at the last 21 games (before the Jays played the\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2023\/07\/06\/jackson-holliday-prospect-profile\/\" target=\"_self\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Baltimore Orioles<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> on August 22nd) that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/v\/varshda01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2023-08-23_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Daulton Varsho<\/a> has played in, he has come up with some big at-bats. In addition, he has provided the Jays with some clutch hits. He&#8217;s improved his on-base percentage from .274 to .368, his OPS from .625 to .985, his strikeout-to-walk ratio (K\/BB) has gone from 96\/29 to 11\/7, and finally, his chase percentage rate has gone from 29% to 24%.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Varsho has hit four home runs in August. This is a vast improvement compared to July when he was silent and hit zero. On Tuesday evening, Varsho came up with a clutch two-run homer blasted at 416 feet in the game against the Orioles. The homer gave the Jays the lead in the top of the second inning. The Jays went on to win that game 6-3 against the Orioles. Varsho and teammate <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/b\/beltbr01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2023-08-23_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Brandon Belt<\/a><\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0have shared the limelight recently with consistent hitting for the Jays.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Daulton Varsho puts the Jays ahead with a two-run shot! <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/AYGQuzHQTz\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/AYGQuzHQTz<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Talkin\u2019 Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/TalkinBaseball_\/status\/1694130020690575819?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">August 22, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h3>Adjustment at the Plate<\/h3>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Daulton Varsho (15)<\/p>\n<p>Opponent: Philadelphia Phillies<br \/>Pitcher: Aaron Nola<br \/>Date: 8\/16\/23 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/VT6s3ZxcDD\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/VT6s3ZxcDD<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; TOR Home Runs (@TOR__HR) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/TOR__HR\/status\/1693316415829467386?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">August 20, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>So, what&#8217;s helped Varsho improve his at-bats? For one thing, Varsho has said farewell to the leg kick, which he usually does when hitting, and has returned to the toe tap. The toe tap has worked in his favor and helped him get more walks.<\/p>\n<p>Since August 1st, and entering the game on Tuesday evening, in his last 18 games, Varsho has slashed .269\/.345\/.538, hit three home runs, a .269 isolated power (ISO), a weighted on-base average (wOBA) of .374, and a weighted runs created plus (wRC+) of 141. Another impressive stat that Varsho has put up is that before the All-Star Break, his OPS was .645, and now following the All-Star Break, it is .783. Varsho has had an excellent month of August for the Jays, where he has recorded 16 hits and 13 RBI. The Jays need to place more trust in Varsho and his offensive abilities.<\/p>\n<h3>Varsho Runs the Show<\/h3>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Daulton Varsho saves his best baseball for when the lights are brightest \ud83e\udef6<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Nae \ud83e\uddec (@NaeNaeTakes) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NaeNaeTakes\/status\/1694160324079878242?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">August 23, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>We can now call him toe-tap Varsho, and Varsho has toe-tapped his way to victory in the second half with the Jays this season. He has silenced the haters and has remained sound at the plate. It will be exciting to see how many home runs he will hit by the end of the season. Do not let Varsho get hot, folks, because he is on fire when he does. The number of games in the second half where he has helped give the Jays leads has been refreshing.<\/p>\n<p>Varsho has found his groove and has done it at a vital time when the Jays need significant wins. Varsho has been a hot hitter for the Jays, and his talent should not go unrecognized. It shows you that Daulton Varsho is productive when it matters the most. Much respect goes to Varsho and his rhythmic second half of the season.<\/p>\n<p>Main Photo Credits:<\/p>\n<p>Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A Toronto Blue Jays outfielder is currently having a breakout second half. In the first half of the season, he was in an offensive slump. But that&#8217;s without question changed especially in the past month with the Jays. He has inevitably proven that he has been a solid pickup by the Jays. The Jays made [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4831,"featured_media":60955,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7,1071],"tags":[326,258,113,3315],"class_list":["post-60936","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bluejays","category-mlb","tag-arizona-diamondbacks","tag-baltimore-orioles","tag-brandon-belt","tag-daulton-varsho"],"modified_by":"Troy Brock","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60936","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4831"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=60936"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60936\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/60955"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60936"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=60936"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=60936"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}