The Astros could be facing a hard call on Daulton Varsho before October arrives.

Houston acquired him from Toronto at the deadline hoping for elite defense and real postseason pedigree, given how Varsho tore through the second half last season.

FanSided's Chris Kline flagged the situation directly. "The bat is M.I.A. since joining the Astros," Kline wrote. "Varsho has been in a funk all season, but his production has entered especially dire territory, batting .173 with a .582 OPS in Houston."

"The Astros simply cannot afford to keep him in the lineup unless there's a quick and dramatic turnaround. Since he's on an expiring contract, Varsho could end up on the chopping block."

Toronto didn't come away completely clean from this trade either. Spencer Arrighetti, the return piece, hasn't solved the Blue Jays' pitching problems.

He's a healthy body, but not one taking real stress off a rotation John Schneider has had to cobble together all season.

From April 15 through May 28, Arrighetti pitched to a 1.37 ERA over eight starts. Since June 3, that number has ballooned to 8.26 ERA with 15 home runs allowed across 13 games.

Why Bateman is the real story of this trade so far

Varsho's absence opened a real opportunity in Toronto's outfield, and Brett Bateman has run with it since his early August debut.

Bateman, acquired separately in the Kevin Gausman deal, is hitting .330 with a .398 on-base percentage and 1.2 fWAR through his first 27 games.

That production pace projects to roughly 8 fWAR over a full 162-game season.

Varsho, by comparison, has been worth just 1.3 fWAR across 130 games with Houston this year.

That gap is the real headline buried in this story. A rookie who arrived in a completely separate trade is already outproducing the player Toronto sent away in the Varsho deal.

None of this settles the overall grade on either move, since Arrighetti's struggles complicate Toronto's side of the ledger.

But for Houston, the calculus around Varsho is getting harder by the week, with an expiring contract and a lineup spot that increasingly needs to go to someone else.

Whether Varsho turns it around before the postseason, or ends up watching October from the bench, is now a real question the Astros have to answer.