Daulton Varsho certainly made a catch Tuesday. But was it a great catch?
Very, very few people could ever flash their glove like the Toronto Blue Jays’ center fielder did in the seventh inning (video above), but he needed to do that only because he tripped over his own feet on the warning track. The situation went from potentially a brutal error to one of the most incredible highlights of the MLB season so far, with both the culpability and the credit on Varsho.
So it was maybe not a great catch, but definitely an entertaining one and a weird one and one that probably leaves you more impressed with a player who made the rare transition from catcher to Gold Glove center fielder. We could get behind calling it the catch of the year.
On Tuesday, the 28-year-old outfielder was making his season debut after missing most of April while recovering from rotator cuff surgery he underwent in September. His catch came at the expense of Red Sox leadoff hitter Jarren Duran.
What Varsho could not catch were subsequent home runs by Duran, Alex Bregman, Kristian Campbell, Rafael Devers and Wilyer Abreu in a 10-2 Red Sox win. The Blue Jays rank worst in MLB with 42 home runs allowed this season and second-worst in home runs by their offense, with 16.
Varsho is coming off a season in which he won his first career Gold Glove award after being a standout behind the plate during his time with the Arizona Diamondbacks. He is uniquely valuable as a defender; the question has always been whether he can hit enough to stay in the lineup.
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