Outfielder Daulton Varsho is back in the Toronto Blue Jays lineup on Monday, April 20, against the Los Angeles Angels. The lefty has sat out the last two games due to a knee injury. He’ll hit seventh against left-hander Reid Detmers.
Varsho was pulled from a contest against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday, April 17, due to knee soreness. He’ll ultimately miss just two games with the issue.
D. Schneider LF E. Clement SS V. Guerrero Jr. 1B E. Jiménez DH K. Okamoto 3B L. Sosa 2B D. Varsho CF M. Straw RF T. Heineman C
D. Cease SP
Manager John Schneider will opt for righty-swinging Davis Schneider in the leadoff spot. Nathan Lukes had hit first in the past two games. Lukes had recently battled vertigo, but came through with back-to-back three-hit performances over the weekend. He’s now out of the lineup against a southpaw starter. Scheider is rolling with an entirely right-handed group, outside of Varsho.
Toronto Blue Jays Get Daulton Varsho Back in the Lineup
GettyDaulton Varsho is hitting seventh against the Los Angeles Angels.
Varsho has been one of the most productive bats in a struggling Blue Jays lineup. He’s slashed .262/.333/.462 across 72 plate appearances. The 29-year-old is tied for the team lead with three home runs. Kazuma Okamoto and Andres Gimenez have also left the yard three times apiece. Varsho has a 123 wRC+ through 19 games.
Left-on-left matchups have not been an issue for Varsho so far. He’s 6-for-15 against same-handed pitching. The outfielder has a double and a homer vs. left-handers in 2026. Varsho took a step forward against lefties last season. He didn’t hit for much power against them, but delivered a .260 batting average, nearly 30 points better than his mark against righties.
Varsho’s glove tends to keep him in the lineup regardless of the opponent. He racked up 10 Defensive Runs Saved last year. It was his third consecutive season putting up double-digit DRS. Varsho earned a Gold Glove award in 2024. He racked up 16 DRS in that campaign.
Scuffling Blue Jays Look to Bounce Back Against Angels
Toronto dropped two of three games with Varsho sidelined, including a loss in the contest he left early. The club has now lost six of its last eight games. The Blue Jays have slipped to dead last in the AL East. The New York Yankees have fallen off after a sizzling start, but remain first in the division with a 13-9 record. The Tampa Bay Rays are a half-game back, sitting at 12-9. The Baltimore Orioles and Boston Red Sox are both under .500.
The offense has let Toronto down through 22 games. The team has scored the eighth-fewest runs in the league, even after putting 10 tallies on Ryne Nelson and company in the final game of the Arizona series. It’s a steep dropoff for a Blue Jays lineup that piled up nearly 800 runs in the 2025 campaign. Only the Yankees, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Milwaukee Brewers were more productive on offense last year.
The Blue Jays will battle a red-hot Detmers on Monday. The lefty fired seven innings of one-run ball against the Yankees in his last outing. He has a solid 3.57 ERA with a 26:6 strikeout-to-walk ratio across four appearances. Detmers is returning to the rotation after pitching out of the bullpen in 2025.
Is Daulton Varsho Playing Tonight? Blue Jays Lineup Against Angels