DUNEDIN, Fla. — Daulton Varsho took his swings during batting practice at the Toronto Blue Jays' player development complex on Friday morning and then headed behind the cage for a chat.
David Popkins was waiting for him and the hitting coach soon became demonstrative. He pretended to hold a bat then swung in a downward motion, his hands starting at his shoulders and finishing by his hips. Varsho nodded, then stepped back and began to mimic the motion.
The two worked on that same swing plane during last year's spring training to combat the natural loft in Varsho's swing and the centre-fielder found immense success with it, going on to produce 20 home runs and a career-high .833 OPS over 71 games in the regular season.
This spring, though, Varsho is adding a new progression to his approach. He's trying to move away from his pull-heavy tendency and is instead aiming to hit the ball with authority to all fields.
So far, it's been working.
"That's been a very different focus this spring than last," Varsho said. "This spring I've been able to catch balls a little bit deeper and drive them to the opposite field."
Varsho's goal every time he swings is to drive the ball toward the pitcher's feet. He feels that's the best mental checkpoint he can deploy to produce line drives given his swing mechanics. The left-handed hitter has been sticking with that method this spring, only now he's adjusting his aim to include areas to the left and right of the pitcher.
So, for instance, instead of focusing on the pitcher's feet, he might aim to send the ball to the left side of the mound, closer to third base. The intended result of that aim would be a hard-hit ball to left field.
Varsho says this will ultimately make him a more versatile hitter who can better adjust on the fly to different locations and pitch types.
"It's just going to open up a lot more pitches for me to hit instead of being like, OK, I see this pitch, but I can't hit it."
In the past, eliminating such pitches would result in him getting behind in counts and piling up strikeouts. Varsho's 28.4 per cent strikeout rate last season was his highest since he broke into the majors in 2020. Additionally, the percentage of batted balls he pulled in the air in 2025 stood at 29.5, which ranked 14th in MLB among players with at least 200 plate appearances.
However, so far this spring, Varsho has accomplished his goals. He's only struck out once in 31 at-bats and five of his eight extra-base hits have been to left field.
"I've been able to hit the ball to the opposite field a lot harder than I've done in the past, instead of cutting it and trying to push it that way," said Varsho.
He also isn't worried about compromising home runs because of this new approach. That's something Popkins has discussed with Varsho this spring.
"Because those are naturally going to come," said Varsho. "Homers come from misses. When I'm hitting the ball low on a line, like I've done this spring so far, I know that when we get to the games and I get a little tired, the loft is going to be a little bit more. I'm going to get underneath a couple of balls and those are going to be the homers. So, I'm not really searching for the home run swing. It's in there."
That's exactly what played out during Friday's contest against the Minnesota Twins at TD Ballpark. In the first inning, Varsho deposited a middle-middle slider from right-hander Mick Abel over the right-field fence for a two-run home run and he later added another homer to right-centre.
Never mind that Varsho pulled both of those shots.
“His work is so geared to left-centre, I think the pull power you (saw) is just a byproduct of that, based on what the pitch is and where it is," said Blue Jays manager John Schneider.
"He’s in a really good place.”
Schneider has been encouraged by the intent Varsho has been bringing to each swing so far during Grapefruit League play and says he's excited to see what the 29-year-old can do with his new approach in a season where he gets 600 at-bats.
Varsho missed the first month of 2025 while recovering from off-season surgery on his right shoulder. He also missed two months in the summer with a left hamstring strain.
"Just anxious to see him continue to do it for a full year," said Schneider.
Varsho is also buoyed by the fact that he was healthy this past winter. It was very different from the previous winter, which he spent rehabbing his shoulder. For context: Last January, Varsho was hitting off a tee while holding the bat in one hand. This January, he was facing pitching like he normally would.
"When I look back to last year and what I had to go through in spring, it was a lot," said Varsho. "It was a lot more mentally than it was physically, at times.
"But being back to normal now is so awesome."
