Toronto Blue Jays' Chris Bassitt Makes Bold Claim About Daulton Varsho, Andrés Giménez

Between center fielder Daulton Varsho and second baseman Andrés Giménez, pitcher Chris Bassitt believes the Toronto Blue Jays have the two top defensive players in baseball.

Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Toronto Blue Jays center fielder Daulton Varsho (25) attempts to catch a line drive during the seventh inning against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park. / Paul Rutherford-Imagn Images

If the old adage of "defense wins championships" is true, then the Toronto Blue Jays could be in for quite the ride in 2025.

The Blue Jays already had Daulton Varsho patrolling center field at a Gold Glove level in 2024, then they went out and acquired three-time Gold Glove winner Andrés Giménez in a trade with the Cleveland Guardians.

Chris Bassitt, heading into his third season in Toronto, spoke glowingly about his team's new second baseman on TSN 1050's "Overdrive" on Tuesday. The combined abilities of Giménez and Varsho up the middle, Bassitt said, would help the Blue Jays' pitchers trust the defense behind them in a whole new way.

"When we went to Cleveland and saw (Giménez) play, it was like holy moly," Bassitt said. "I don't think this is a stretch at all, I think we have the two best defenders in all of baseball with Varsho and him. So luckily we have one in the infield and one in the outfield."

Chris Bassitt was just on @OverDrive1050 and spoke about how excited he is to have Andrés Giménez behind him now as a ground-ball pitcher:

“I don’t think this is a stretch at all … I think we have the two best defenders in baseball in Varsho and Giménez.” #BlueJays

— Keegan Matheson (@KeeganMatheson) February 4, 2025

Varsho led all MLB outfielders with a Total Zone of 20 last season. Giménez, on the other hand, led all big league second basemen with a 13 Total Zone in 2023 before bumping that up to 14 in 2024.

Between the two of them, Varsho and Giménez have racked up 81 defensive runs saved over the past two years.

First baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. also has a Gold Glove to his name. If the Blue Jays pull the trigger and sign free agent Alex Bregman, they would add another Gold Glove winner in the hot corner.

Toronto's pitchers and catchers are scheduled to report to spring training on Feb. 13. The position players will follow suit on Feb. 18.

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