TORONTO — Over the previous six weeks, an early lead with Blake Snell on the mound has basically been an computerized win for the Los Angeles Dodgers. But dealing with the American League champion Toronto Blue Jays — authors of an MLB-best 49 comeback victories within the common season and purveyors of a notably explosive offense all October — on Friday in Game 1 of the World Series, that historically comfy circumstance turned out to be something however.
After Toronto fell down 2-0 to Los Angeles by means of three innings, Daulton Varsho’s game-tying, two-run homer within the backside of the fourth was a essential first counterpunch in what spiraled into a complete meltdown on the mound for the Dodgers. Toronto erupted for 9 runs within the sixth inning, headlined by Addison Barger’s dramatic, pinch-hit grand slam — the first of its variety in World Series historical past. Shohei Ohtani’s first career World Series home run, a roof-scraping, two-run shot within the seventh, was ultimately a footnote in an 11-4 Toronto triumph.
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That Varsho hit a huge home run in October will not be particularly gorgeous. The 29-year-old heart fielder loved a big energy uptick in 2025, albeit in an abbreviated pattern because of shoulder surgical procedure that delayed his begin to the season and a left hamstring pressure that value him all of June and July. When wholesome, although, Varsho slugged like by no means earlier than, smashing 20 home runs in 71 regular-season video games and registering career-best marks in barrel charge, common exit velocity and hard-hit charge. His .310 ISO ranked seventh amongst MLB hitters with a minimum of 250 plate appearances, behind a who’s who of the sport’s finest energy bats: Aaron Judge, Cal Raleigh, Shohei Ohtani, Nick Kurtz, Kyle Schwarber and Giancarlo Stanton.
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But a key caveat concerning Varsho’s breakout season is that the overwhelming majority of his manufacturing got here in opposition to right-handed pitching. The first 18 of his 20 homers within the common season got here in opposition to righties, and his OPS in opposition to southpaws (.701) was markedly worse than in opposition to right-handers (.865). Because of his elite protection in heart area, Varsho doesn’t get platooned as aggressively as a number of the different left-handed bats on the Jays’ roster, however his degree of consolation in opposition to same-handed pitching has been a work in progress.
And on Friday, this wasn’t simply any left-hander Varsho was digging in in opposition to. Snell is a two-time Cy Young winner who hit his stride down the stretch and was practically untouchable in three prior postseason begins (0.86 ERA in 21 innings). Snell hadn’t allowed a home run in his earlier 49 2/3 innings, common season and postseason, relationship to Aug. 29. He had but to permit a hit to a left-handed hitter in October, and he hadn’t surrendered a home run to a lefty bat since Juan Soto took him deep on June 2, 2024.
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Undaunted, Varsho stepped to the plate within the backside of the fourth because the tying run after Alejandro Kirk led off the inning with a deep single off the right-field wall to finish an eight-pitch at-bat. Evidently, Varsho had much less curiosity in participating in a prolonged battle: He unleashed his quick and powerful swing on the first pitch from Snell, a 96.1-mph fastball within the coronary heart of the strike zone, and despatched it straight over the pitcher’s head, hovering towards heart area. A projected 423 ft later, the ball crashed excessive above the fence off the navy blue batter’s eye for a game-tying, two-run blast that invigorated the Rogers Centre crowd of 44,353 and injected a much-needed jolt of confidence into the Blue Jays’ dugout.
“For me, [facing] lefties has been up and down,” Varsho mentioned afterward. “Right away, I was struggling against them. I wasn’t seeing left-handed starters very often. … But overall, I started getting comfortable, having a better approach, just knowing what I need to swing at and what I need to take. And obviously, just trying to get a good pitch to hit and try not to miss it.”
“I believe his first at-bat was a breaking ball that he kind of just missed,” supervisor John Schneider mentioned postgame, in reference to Varsho’s first-inning flyout on a curveball in the course of the plate. “And I saw him being ready to attack a fastball.
“Tomorrow will be a different set of circumstances, but these games come down to players in the moment making adjustments and executing. Blake is a damn good pitcher. You’re going to have to do something like that, make him work early, hopefully you hit a mistake. But Varsh and everyone in there is not going to back down, which is what I love about this group.”
Varsho’s largest Blue Jays second but marks the best peak in a tenure that has featured no scarcity of ups and downs. Drafted by Arizona in 2017, Varsho arrived in Toronto through commerce in December 2022, a deal that didn’t look favorable for the Jays initially, contemplating the instant success of Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and Gabriel Moreno as D-backs. While his excellent glove in heart has solely gotten higher with the Blue Jays — a exceptional growth contemplating Varsho’s background as a catcher early in his profession — his bat lagged behind throughout his first two years as a Blue Jay, and there wasn’t a lot purpose for optimism coming into Year 3, contemplating his 2024 ended with proper shoulder surgical procedure.
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But behind the scenes, Varsho was intent on determining what works finest for him within the batter’s field, even coming off a process that impacted his upper-half mobility within the early going.
“Obviously, the first two seasons weren’t the seasons that I think everybody expected from me,” he mentioned. “And this season, obviously, being hurt and kind of going up and down with injuries. I think, overall, learning my swing and what I need to do to be successful up here has been great. Honestly, it’s been one of the blessings of having our new hitting coaches here because I learned so much about it.”
The trio of offensive minds Varsho is referring to — hitting coach David Popkins and assistant hitting coaches Hunter Mense and Lou Iannotti — helped him develop a mindset on the plate that maximizes his pure bodily skills. Ask Varsho to elucidate that strategy, and the reply sounds counterintuitive.
“For me, I’m trying to hit a ground ball back to the pitcher,” he defined. “That’s been my goal all season. I know it’s not, like, what everybody says about launch angle. [But] I literally try to hit a ground ball right back to the pitcher, and it works for me.
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“It’s really easy for me to hit the ball in the air,” continued Varsho, whose 31.6% groundball charge is sixth-lowest in MLB the previous three seasons. “I’ve known that my whole life. So for me, I have to really exaggerate going down to the baseball, and it works out for me because I am able to keep my bat in the zone a long period of time when I do that.”
In placing a steadiness between how his swing capabilities and what strategy yields the very best outcomes, Varsho unlocked a new degree on the plate, one which has elevated his complete profile.
“I wish Varsh was healthy the whole year, for him and for us, but mainly for him,” Schneider mentioned after Game 1. “He’s always had this potential. … and I think he’s just coming into a complete player. We always think about his defense and his baserunning, but the added threat there with the power is huge.”
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Amid a Blue Jays playoff run outlined by totally different gamers stepping up at totally different junctures to make sure the magical journey continues, Varsho’s heroics on Friday represented one thing of a essential stepping stone. His fourth-inning swat acquired the bats began, and an avalanche of offense adopted, encapsulating the absolutely functioning state of Toronto’s lineup and showcasing simply how harmful this offense could be.
If the Blue Jays are to reach dethroning the defending champs, a full crew effort will proceed to be required every night time. In Game 2 on Saturday, Dodgers righty Yoshinobu Yamamoto looms as Toronto’s subsequent tall job.
“It was really a good approach from everyone today,” Schneider mentioned. “Then you got to get ready for tomorrow against another really tough pitcher.”