Story courtesy of Milwaukee Athletics
MILWAUKEE – Former Milwaukee baseball player Daulton Varsho was called up yesterday and made his Major League debut late last night with the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Varsho became the highest-drafted player in MKE program history when Arizona took him with pick No. 68 in the 2017 MLB Draft. He now becomes the first Panther to appear in a Major League game after pinch-hitting in the ninth inning, walking on a 3-2 pitch in the game against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Varsho was named the 2019 Minor League Player Of The Year for the Arizona Diamondbacks by Baseball America. The starting catcher for the Jackson Generals (Double-A) in the Southern League last season, he is now ranked by Baseball America as the Diamondbacks No. 1 prospect, and No. 56 in all of baseball.
In 108 games in 2019, he led the Southern league in slugging (.520) and OPS (.899). He was spectacular in the second half, batting over .350 with an OPS over 1.000 after the break. He finished the season at .301 with 18 home runs, 58 runs batted in and 21 stolen bases overall.
It was also noted that he is the first catcher in Double-A or Triple-A to steal 20 bases in a season since at least 2006. Varsho had 42 walks and just 63 strikeouts.
Varsho played for the Panthers starting in 2015, capping his MKE career with Second-Team D1Baseball All-American honors. He had an impressive junior campaign in 2017, leading the Horizon League in batting average (.362), slugging percentage (.643), on-base percentage (.490), triples (6) and walks (46), while also finishing fourth in total bases (128), fifth in hits (72), sixth with a team-high 11 home runs and seventh in runs scored (47).
In his 162-game collegiate career (154 starts), he batted .335 with 199 hits, 121 runs scored, 16 triples, 24 home runs, 124 RBI and 92 walks.
He is batting .301 in his minor league career, adding 37 home runs and 142 RBI in 241 games.