For most of the season, Daulton Varsho‘s offensive production has been like an underwhelming approximation of his 2022.

That looks like it might be about to change.

Although Varsho’s .222/.290/.404 line might not leap off the page, he’s been significantly better recently, slashing .267/.323/.533 in his last 15 games.

Without context those numbers look excellent, but not like a blazing hot streak. His 136 wRC+ in those games is star level, but not outlandish for a hitter having a strong stretch. 

The way Varsho has authored his recent success is even more encouraging for the outfielder than the results, though. One reason for that is the fact that he simply isn’t striking out. 

The 26-year-old entered the season with a career strikeout rate of 24.0 per cent and he’s gone down on strikes just four times in his last 15 contests, posting the lowest K% of his career over a span of that length.

The clearest explanation for this stretch has been far better plate discipline from Varsho. While he hasn’t piled up walks during his recent stretch, he’s chasing fewer bad pitches.

In his last 15 games, he’s chased just 22.7 per cent of pitches outside the zone, far less than his 34.9 per cent in the first 46 contests of 2023. While he’s taking more pitchers’ pitches, he’s been as aggressive in the zone as ever, swinging at 73.3 per cent of balls in the zone — a rate matching his approach earlier in the year (74.1 per cent).

At the same time that Varsho has cut down on his strikeouts, his power stroke has come alive. His ISO in his last 15 games sits at .267 and he’s hit four home runs — including a 446-footer that is his longest of the season, and the second-longest of his career.

That power production is supported by contact-quality numbers that are significantly better than what he managed earlier in the season.

If Varsho had gotten a few more bounces going his way in the last three weeks he’d be in the midst of a sizzling run that would be elevating his 2023 numbers in a profound way.

As it is, he’s in the middle of a stretch where he’s doing everything right by avoiding strikeouts and making hard contact consistently, but his rewards haven’t been proportional to the quality of his at-bats.

Varsho’s luck isn’t going to magically even out over the rest of the season, but what he’s doing now may have something to tell us about where he can go from here. 

It’s not realistic to expect him to run a single-digit strikeout rate while providing considerable power, but the fact he’s capable of doing that for a couple of weeks at a time is undoubtedly a good sign for the Toronto Blue Jays.

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Milwaukee Bucks forward Khris Middleton reportedly underwent successful arthroscopic surgery on his right knee following his team’s playoff exit, according to The Athletic’s Shams Charania.

The report says that Middleton is expected to make a full recovery and return to action in July. The surgery was a clean-up process in his right knee which was reportedly planned prior to the end of the season.

Middleton, 31, is set to become a free agent if he chooses to decline his $40 million player option for next season. The deadline for that decision is June 21.

He struggled through injuries this year, only appearing in 33 regular season games for the Bucks and averaged 15.1 points, 4.2 rebounds and 4.9 assists.

He missed the first 20 games of the season following off-season wrist surgery then missed 18 straight games due to knee soreness in December and January.

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The Portland Trail Blazers had a chance to put something special together, but they didn’t get the No. 1 pick in the upcoming NBA Draft.

One could argue that pairing Victor Wembanyama — even as a rookie — with Damian Lillard could’ve given them a chance to make the playoffs, but the No. 3 pick might not be as ready as Wembanyama is and is definitely not as valuable as a trade asset either.

That’s why Chris Broussard believes both the Blazers and Damian Lillard need to come to terms with the fact that they need to part ways for each other’s sake.

"If Dame stays in Portland the rest of his career he is not going to win a championship. … Dame's loyalty and the Blazers loyalty is admirable, but it flawed thinking on both sides." — @Chris_Broussard pic.twitter.com/lWKani1wKW

— First Things First (@FTFonFS1) June 7, 2023

Broussard compared Lillard to Kevin Garnett, who also refused to leave the Minnesota Timberwolves and then admitted that his only career regret was not joining the Boston Celtics sooner.

Like Garnett, Lillard could play in the NBA Finals and even win a championship before retiring or entering the backend of his prime, which would obviously skyrocket his already impressive legacy.

Broussard also claimed that — as good as Lillard is — a 6-foot-2 guard won’t be able to lead a team to the NBA championship, as history has proved it — obviously with the exceptions of Stephen Curry and Isiah Thomas.

There’s no denying that Lillard is one of the most unstoppable scorers in the game right now, and he’s a bonafide leader and arguably the greatest Blazer of all time.

Loyalty is valued, especially nowadays.

But they’re both holding each other back, and it’s time they just let go of each other.

The post Chris Broussard Makes A Prediction If Damian Lillard Stays In Portland appeared first on The Cold Wire.

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