Beloved former Blue Jay Daulton Varsho's rough season with the Astros has ended with surgery.

The former Blue Jays outfielder underwent left arthroscopic wrist surgery yesterday, sidelining him for the rest of 2026.

That closes the book on a genuinely difficult stretch following his trade to Houston, capping a wrist issue that had bothered him throughout the year.

After arriving in Houston, Varsho hit just .172 with a .535 OPS across 41 games, a steep drop from the player Toronto once viewed as an elite two-way outfielder.

Why the wrist issue explains much of his decline

He'd dealt with this same wrist problem dating back to his time with the Blue Jays, including an earlier IL stint in June before the trade even happened.

Chandler Rome of The Athletic had reported the wrist contained cysts that progressively worsened as the season went on, a detail that offers real context for his struggles at the plate.

Surgery now addresses the underlying issue directly, rather than continuing to manage around inflammation that clearly wasn't resolving on its own through rest alone.

Unfortunately for Houston, their chances at making a real post-season run came to an end last night as they fell 7-3 to the Chicago White Sox and were swept in the series 2-0.

For Toronto, this is simply the final chapter in a storyline that's followed the Blue Jays' return in that trade, Spencer Arrighetti, all season.

Whether a full offseason of recovery allows Varsho to return to form in 2027 is the real question now facing both him and whatever organization he's playing for next season as he enters free agency injured.