Daulton Varsho has never hit the ball harder

TORONTO – Daulton Varsho has never swung the bat harder and it’s all thanks to a small adjustment at the plate.

Varsho had a three-run blast in the eighth inning for a short-lived Blue Jays lead and a solo home run earlier in the game as Toronto fell to the Tampa Bay Rays 11-9 on Tuesday. Varsho’s first home run of the night had an exit velocity of 113.9 m.p.h. and the three-run bomb was 113.6 m.p.h., for the two hardest hits of his career.

“It’s just trying to be short and quick to the baseball,” said Varsho on how he has found more power this season. “The big extra moves, that’s when it comes off softer and not as on a line for me.

“The more I can continue to do that, the better opportunity I have to get hits.”

Varsho’s three-run homer gave Toronto (20-21) a 7-6 lead in the eighth before Tampa scored five runs in the ninth to re-take the lead. Bo Bichette and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. had back-to-back RBI doubles to cut the Rays’ advantage to two-runs but Varsho popped out to end the game.

“I like my at bats, little frustrated on the last one,” said Varsho. “Honestly, it’s one of those nights where all the way up and down through lineup we had a good game and it’s just frustrating.”

Varsho missed the first 28 games of Toronto’s season as he recovered from shoulder surgery in September. Although he’s hitting just .222 in his 10 games this season, he has five home runs and has driven in 11 runs.

“I think that as he goes along in his career, he’s understanding who he is and what he can handle, and he’s just kind of leaning into it.” said Blue Jays manager John Schneider. “You know, confidence is a real thing.

“When you’re at this stage in his career, you make some adjustments and you have some confidence.”

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DON’T HASSLE THE HOFF — Closer Jeff Hoffman still has Schneider’s full support, despite giving up five runs in the ninth inning, including a towering grand slam to Junior Caminero.

“His stuff has been consistent all year, you know?” said Schneider, noting that Caminero’s homer came on a slider high and inside that was out of the strike zone. “He’s done more than his fair share of helping us win games so far. I’ve got nothing but trust in him going forward.”

Although Hoffman earned his eighth and ninth saves of the season over the weekend in Seattle, he had two bad outings last week in Anaheim, Calif. He gave up three runs on consecutive nights as the Los Angeles Angels beat Toronto 8-3 on May 6 and 6-4 on May 7.

Hoffman’s record dropped to 3-2 with Tuesday’s loss and his earned-run average ballooned to 6.05.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 13, 2025.

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