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It was after a game at the beginning of June at the Rogers Center when it was already not always easy to find positive things about the Blue Jays’ disappointing season.

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But after another night in which his sports center defender made a few game-changing plays, Toronto manager John Schneider ended his postgame press conference with a statement he believes wholeheartedly and which he has affirmed on several occasions.

“Daulton Varsho is the best outfielder in baseball,” Schneider said.

On Sunday night, that opinion was further spread when Varsho was named the winner of the American League’s Rawlings Gold Glove Award for center fielders. It was a career first for the 28-year-old Wisconsin native, who led all Major League Baseball players with 29 defensive runs saved, the second straight season he accomplished the feat.

Varsho, who split his season between center (where he played more regularly) and left field, led the majors in the category, although he missed the last two and a half weeks of the season due to a shoulder injury.

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In his two seasons with the Jays — since being acquired from Arizona in a trade that sent outfielder Lourdes Guriel Jr. and catcher Gabriel Moreno to the Diamondbacks — Varsho has struggled at the plate. But his defensive work on the left and center has been elite.

A combination of speed, athleticism and fearlessness allowed him to make even the toughest plays on the field seem routine. Many felt Varsho was robbed of that honor in the 2023 season, a point emphatically made by his teammate, pitcher Chris Bassitt.

“The fact that you can lead defensive runs saved and not win a Gold Glove is our stupidity that only baseball can achieve,” Bassitt posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, after Varsho’s refusal .

Yes, Varsho has proven to be a pitcher’s best friend with his reliable work in the outfield.

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Next up for Varsho is a different off-season challenge: recovering from rotator cuff surgery. The outfielder is expected to fully recover from the procedure after playing for more than a month despite nagging pain. The Jays hope the recovery doesn’t keep Varsho for an extended period of time in spring training.

Varsho beat out fellow finalists Jarren Duran of the Red Sox and Jake Meyers of the Astros. Winners are determined by voting by each team’s 30 MLB managers and up to six coaches, who represent 75 percent of the total field, with the SABR defensive rating accounting for the remaining 25 percent.

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