Louie Varland Will Make His MLB Debut for Twins on Wednesday

[Seth Stohs]

With the news that St. Paul native Louie Varland has been called up to the Minnesota Twins and will make his major-league debut on Wednesday in The Bronx, let’s take a look at the meteoric rise of the right-hander from Concordia University in St. Paul. 

Image courtesy of graphics by Thieres Rabelo

The Twins acquired right-hander Tyler Mahle from the Cincinnati Reds for three prospects including Spencer Steer at the trade deadline. He made three starts for the Twins, went on the IL, came back, pitched two more innings and is back on the IL. 

About a week after the trade deadline, right-hander Louie Varland was promoted to Triple-A St. Paul. And just one month (and four Triple-A starts) later, Varland is taking over Mahle’s spot in the big-league rotation. 

While we had heard the news 3-4 hours earlier, Patrick Reusse was the first to announce the news. 

Amateur Days
Louie Varland was born and raised in St. Paul. No need to mention that Hall of Famers Dave Winfield, Paul Molitor and Jack Morris grew up in St. Paul, as did soon-to-be Hall of Famer Joe Mauer. 

He went to high school at North St. Paul where he was also a star on the wrestling mat. As his high school days were winding down, he was considering several schools. His older brother Gus Varland was pitching in his freshman season at Concordia University in St. Paul, but Louie kind of wanted to get away from his brother’s spotlight. 

Ultimately, Louie joined Gus and the two pitched very well under the tutelage of legendary coach Mark “Lunch” McKenzie. As a freshman in 2017, he pitched in eight games. That summer, he played for Utica in the Perfect Game College League. As a sophomore, he went 5-1 with a 1.41 ERA over nine games (6 starts) and 44 2/3 innings. That summer, he played for Willmar in the Northwoods League. 

That was a great summer for the Varland family as Gus was drafted in the 14th round by the Oakland A’s. 

In 2019, Louie’s junior season, he went 4-5 with a 3.58 ERA over nine starts. In 55 1/3 innings, he walked 14 and struck out 68 batters. 

In June, his hometown team, the Twins, selected him in the 15th round of the draft. He signed and pitched in three games at Elizabethton before being shut down with some shoulder discomfort. The pitcher development staff really worked with him in the offseason and throughout the lost Covid season of 2020 on some mechanical things designed not only to keep his arm in a better position but also to increase velocity. It worked. As he was preparing for spring training in February of 2021, he hit 100.2 mph. Wade Varland, Gus and Louie’s father, told @Parker Hageman, “It was like I won gold in the Olympics”

That 2021 Season
Even with the 100 mph milestone reached off a practice mound was exciting, no one was sure what to expect from Louie Varland as the 2021 season approached. 

We discussed it on a Twins Spotlight show in early January of 2021. 

He began the season with the Ft. Myers Mighty Mussels. He pitched in 10 games (8 starts) and went 4-2 with a 2.09 ERA. In 47 1/3 innings, he walked just 16 and struck out 76 batters (14.5 K/9). He was promoted to Cedar Rapids and performed equally well. In 10 starts, he went 6-2 with a 2.10 ERA. In 55 2/3 innings, he walked 14 batters and struck out 66. In 103 total innings, that is 142 strikeouts (12.4 K/9). 

Following the season, he was named the Twins Minor League Pitcher of the Year, as well as the Twins Daily Starting Pitcher of the Year. 

Following the season, I had the opportunity to put both Varland brothers under the prospect spotlight. 

The 2022 Season 
While his prospect status was certainly significantly higher, there were still question marks regarding his game. It’s a well-known thought that a lot of times, college pitcher draft picks meet their biggest struggles when they get to the Double-A level. In addition, while he did a great in the lower levels in 2021, he was primarily known as a two-pitch pitcher (fastball, slider). His change-up needed to continue to progress, but he also said that the Twins wanted him to add more horizontal movement to his slider as well. 

I’m not a pitching guru, so I won’t speak to whether or not his slider has more break, or how consistent the Twins pitching coaches would say that his changeup has become. But we can look at the numbers. 

At Double-A Wichita this year, he went 7-4 with a 3.34 ERA in 20 games (19 starts). In 105 innings, he walked 39 and struck out 119 (10.2 K/9). 

In his time with the Wind Surge, there were several matchups between Tulsa and Wichita. The two made history in starting opposite each other in what was a lot of fun for their family and friends. 

In his four starts at Triple-A St. Paul, he is 1-1 with a 1.69 ERA. In 21 1/3 innings, he has 27 strikeouts and just three walks. Varland tossed five no-hit innings in his Saints debut and then left to a standing ovation at CHS Field. 

The Twins could have gone safe and returned Aaron Sanchez to the starting rotation. He had pitched fine in limited time with the Twins. They could have selected Ronny Henriquez or Simeon Woods Richards, or Louie Varland. 

On Monday, Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said regarding having a starter make his debut on Wednesday, “That wouldn't bother me one bit to pitch [a rookie]. We’re going to pitch whoever we think the best pitcher is for that spot on that day. And I mean, hypothetically, I would never hesitate to put a young pitcher on the mound and just let him go do his job.” 

That day will be Wednesday at Yankees Stadium for Louie Varland. He is set to make his MLB debut against Aaron Judge and the Yankees. 

Louie Varland is the Twins #12 prospect currently at Twins Daily. 

Check out the dozens of articles and videos that Varland has been tagged in on Twins Daily over his time with the Twins. He has been fantastic for Twins Daily, doing several Q&As, interviews and more, so there is a ton of great content. And because of that, we congratulate him and his family and wish him the best going forward. 

And Gus Varland is currently at Triple-A Oklahoma City, hoping he soon gets the same call.

 

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[D.C Twins]

Congrats to Varland.... I can't imagine how special it will be for him to pitch in the MLB for his hometown team!

Let's hope this is the beginning of a long run

[ashbury]

Corresponding 40-man move?

[BH67]

This story has "folk hero" written all over it.  No better venue for the debut.  Go get 'em, Louie.

[Game7-91]

Great story, good luck Mr Varland....first MLB win in Yankee Stadium! That will be a nice memory! Go get it......

[Brandon]

Well if someone is going to break the Twins curse against the Yankees, it might as well be the local guy who suffered along with us.

[Blyleven2011]

I'm glad he's here and he does well  ...

Yankee fans are hard on the visiting team so he better clear the mechanism  ... 

It does seem like he moved through the system fast , only time will tell ...

Go get them dam Yankees Louie 

[Mark G]

Both my sons are North St. Paul grads, and I live less than a mile from the Concordia College campus.  It would be really tempting to just say hip hip hooray and celebrate a great local story.  But should we be a little worried that, in the middle of a very close pennant race, we are calling up a pretty raw rookie over anyone else we have in the organization?  What, exactly, does that say for what we have in the organization?  

When a rookie with 4 AAA starts is the best option we have to face the Yankees in a tight pennant race, maybe we should take a step (or two) back and evaluate the system.  I know all about the injuries, but maybe that is the point as well.  When we can't keep virtually anyone all the way down to AAA rookies healthy, even trading for injury prone pitchers, we just might need to take a long look at virtually everything.  But, da@#, I sure hope Varland smokes 'em.  What a story.  

[jimbo92107]

Wow, sometimes it's almost like they're listening to us... On the other hand, the team's options were getting pretty limited, with all the injuries. 

Good luck, Louie Varland. You will have everybody at TD pulling for you.

[nclahammer]

Congratulations louie Varland, go get em' kid!

[Richie the Rally Goat]

Awesome! Rooting for you Louie!

[TwinsDr2021]

Congrats Mr. Varland, hopefully this is the start of long prosperous career.

 

 

[Dave Overlund]

3 hours ago, Mark G said:

When a rookie with 4 AAA starts is the best option we have to face the Yankees in a tight pennant race, maybe we should take a step (or two) back and evaluate the system.  I know all about the injuries, but maybe that is the point as well.  When we can't keep virtually anyone all the way down to AAA rookies healthy, even trading for injury prone pitchers, we just might need to take a long look at virtually everything.  But, da@#, I sure hope Varland smokes 'em.  What a story.  

It's a yearly tradition from Brian Duensing to Randy Dobnak... sort of a rite of passage! 

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

Good news! 

[lecroy24fan]

Sanchez would have been starting on 3 days rest so no chance they would have done that.

 

As far as a 40 man move they haven't officially announced the transaction so they also have to send a pitcher down from the 28 man. I'm guessing the moves happen on Wednesday.

[tony&rodney]

Best of luck to Louie Varland. 

[Whitey333]

Congrats.  I hope it all goes well and that this is the start of a nice career with Twins.

[RJA]

A player making his major league debut is one of the coolest parts of baseball.  I can only imagine the butterflies he must feel especially debuting in the Bronx.  It will be a blast to watch.  Development is a highly individual thing.  If you had asked me in spring training who would most likely come up as a starter, I would have thought Balazovic would be the guy, but Varland passed he and SWR up this summer.  Let's hope the local kid does well.

[Otaknam]

Good luck to Varland making his debut in the Bronx. It will be a start to remember. It is some good starting pitching news for the team after so many of their promising starters have been injured, non productive, or traded, which doesn’t bode well for the team going forward. They still don’t have a legit ace or number two starter.

[DJL44]

I'm guessing this means he's in the rotation for the rest of the month. They need a starting pitcher and aren't going to want to burn an option on him.

[tarheeltwinsfan]

What a story. What a story. By tomorrow, to paraphrase Paul Harvey, "We will know the rest of the story."

[mikelink45]

This is exciting news.  I do not know how people continue to say Sanchez did well - he didn't.  Sanchez has -0.8 WAR and a 6.98 era.  This was the right move.  Keep trying out new pitchers until we get the right ones.  Go Mr Varland - there is nothing like a hometown hero.

It is also good PR for a team that is frustrating many of its fans.

[Major League Ready]

2 hours ago, Dave Overlund said:

It's a yearly tradition from Brian Duensing to Randy Dobnak... sort of a rite of passage! 

Or Joe Ryan or Bailey Ober or Josh Winder or Griffin Jax or Jhoan Duran.  I guess it just depends on if you only want to focus on the failures.  There will always be failure at the MLB level so we can certainly find them quite easily if that's what we want to focus on.  Instead, I am going to wish the local young man well and hope he becomes a fixture in the rotation.

[Dman]

I honestly didn't think it would happen for Louie this year.  I was thinking next year but I love this move.  He has been the most consistent pitcher in the high minors this year.  Somehow he even turned it up a notch after getting to AAA.  He has earned and deserved this shot IMO. Go gettum Louie the fans are behind you win or lose.

[HrbieFan]

Aggressive move by the FO, about time! Hiw about bringing up Walner too? 

[Seth Stohs]

2 hours ago, lecroy24fan said:

Sanchez would have been starting on 3 days rest so no chance they would have done that.

 

As far as a 40 man move they haven't officially announced the transaction so they also have to send a pitcher down from the 28 man. I'm guessing the moves happen on Wednesday.

Correct. No need to add Varland to the 40 and 28-man rosters before tonight's game. They'll wait until after the game, and probably not announce the DFA move until tomorrow. I don't think it's possible to add another 60-Day IL guy right now... no one fits the bill for that. 

[Karbo]

51 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

I'm guessing this means he's in the rotation for the rest of the month. They need a starting pitcher and aren't going to want to burn an option on him.

probably depends on how he does. If he does well I don't see any reason to send him back. If he gets shelled they probably will.

[DJL44]

1 minute ago, Karbo said:

If he does well I don't see any reason to send him back. If he gets shelled they probably will.

If he gets shelled in his first start against the Yankees, I'd still give him another start against the Royals at home.

[Dave Overlund]

1 hour ago, Major League Ready said:

Or Joe Ryan or Bailey Ober or Josh Winder or Griffin Jax or Jhoan Duran.  I guess it just depends on if you only want to focus on the failures.  There will always be failure at the MLB level so we can certainly find them quite easily if that's what we want to focus on.  Instead, I am going to wish the local young man well and hope he becomes a fixture in the rotation.

I wasn't talking about failures. Just that an untested Duensing started a playoff game against the Yankees in 2009 and Randy Dobnak did it in 2019 (both at Yankee Stadium) so there is a history an unproven pitcher taking on the Yankees in the playoffs/during a pennant race. 

[roger]

Don't know who I am happier for, Seth, Varland or Lunch who is going to see one of his young recruits getting his first start in Yankee stadium.  Could the Twins be soooo fortunate to have him overcome his nerves and pitch a very solid 5+ innings?  Can't remember, will he be going up against Cole?  Or is Cole pitching tonight?

Damn, the Twins really need to win one or two of these remaining three games.  Come on Louie, be the man to get it done!!!!!!