Quiet Blue Jays outfielder Daulton Varsho gets bat to make some noise

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Daulton Varsho may be the quietest dude in the Blue Jays clubhouse.

But one of the team’s new outfielders is starting to make some welcome noise with his bat as the Jays offence re-ignited during a weekend sweep of the Pirates. Varsho wasn’t alone in the offensive outburst, but he certainly created a viral highlight moment in Sunday’s 10-1 Jays blowout win in Pittsburgh.

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The 413-foot shot that cleared the outfield wall at PNC Park (and the one surrounding the stadium as well), hit a sidewalk outside and one-hopped into the Allegheny River, a floater that a fan jumped in to retrieve.

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According to the Pirates, it was the 68th ball to leave PNC Park and set sail in the Allegheny, adding the Jays left fielder to a relatively exclusive group.

As much as it was viral material, the early Sunday evening homer was the latest sign of Varsho becoming a key contributor to the Jays lineup, an appreciated, albeit delayed arrival.

Over the past six games on the Jays nine-game trip, Varsho has launched three home runs, three doubles and is hitting .458 with nine runs driven in. While the Jays love him for his defence in the outfield, getting that left-handed bat humming has been important to the depth of the offence.

As for the personality side of it, Varsho is quite comfortable with being the strong and often silent type in the clubhouse, allowing his terrific speed and instincts to make an impact in left field. His fellow outfielders, Kevin Kiermaier in centre and George Springer in right, make up for Varsho’s lack of verbosity anyway, as they are two of the more vocal players among this group of Jays.

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Moving to a new team via the deal that sent the man he replaced in left field, Lourdes Gurriel Jr., and catching prospect Gabriel Moreno to Arizona has been an adjustment for Varsho, though not in a bad way.

“Obviously, changing organizations can be hard meeting everybody,” Varsho said in an interview in Toronto before the team departed on the current trip. “Meeting new people has always been a challenge for me. But I’m getting comfortable being around everybody and I know everybody is rooting for me.

“It’s been a lot of fun to be here and and to get comfortable and enjoy this.”

So why is Varsho on the quiet side? Blame it on his family dynamic where getting a word in as a youngster wasn’t always the easiest.

“I had two older sisters, so they did most of the talking when I was younger,” Varsho said with a laugh. “I love them, but that’s how I grew up. I just grew up quiet but it’s great in this clubhouse. There are so many great guys here.

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“I’m kind of the quiet guy in the locker room and I’m OK with that.”

He was less OK with the quietness at the plate in the early going, though Varsho managed to keep his frustration in check, battling the urgency to make an impact with his new team with the patience to let it happen.

“I’ve learned a lot and I’m still learning here and making adjustments, I need to turn it around,” Varsho said.

So far on this road trip, that has been a mission accomplished.

ON THE ROAD (AGAIN)

You won’t hear any public grumbling about the schedule from Jays players, but the first month and change of the season hasn’t exactly been a treat. From a 10-game trip to start the season — thanks to Rogers Centre renovations — it has been a grind.

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Not only have the Jays played more road games than any other team in the majors (they are 12-11 in 23 contests) even their off days are less than ideal.

Idle on Monday before facing the Phillies for a pair in Philadelphia, the Jays have another off day on Thursday before launching into an unnecessarily gruelling stretch of 17 games in 17 days.

Following the nine-game, 11-day, three-city trip the Jays wrap up in Philly, the team returns home for a 10-game homestand starting with Friday’s first of three against the Atlanta Braves. That’s followed by a pair of AL East rivals dropping by the Rogers Centre — four with the Yankees and three with the Orioles.

AROUND THE BASES

After that brilliant 6.1 innings of scoreless work from Yusei Kikuchi on Sunday, the Jays return to the top of the rotation for the pair in Philly — Alek Manoah will be getting the ball on Tuesday followed by Kevin Gausman … Not many would have had Kikuchi with more innings pitched than Manoah through seven starts, but that’s the case with the Japanese lefty at 37.2 to his righty teammate’s 36.1. The rest of the rotation: Gausman at 42, Jose Berrios 40.1 and Chris Bassitt 40 … Kikuchi leads the starting staff in wins (5-0) and perhaps the biggest surprise of all, in ERA with a 3.35 mark … You know Vlad Guerrero Jr.’s wrist is really bothering him when he sits for a pair against the Pirates. The team is hopeful that Monday’s rest day will be enough to get his left wrist feeling good enough to return to the lineup on Tuesday.