Louie Varland to Get Another Shot with Twins

It has not been the 2024 that Louie Varland was hoping for, when he first traveled from Fort Myers to Minneapolis in mid-March. Back then, the 26-year-old had just earned the No. 5 starting pitcher role out of Spring Training, one offseason removed from a switch to the bullpen, for the Minnesota Twins’ 2023 playoff run.

But instead of cementing himself as a future big league rotation piece, Varland tripped out of the 2024 starting gates. In just four April starts, the St. Paul, MN native gave up 17 earned runs in just 16.2 innings pitched.

Louie’s ERA ballooned to 9.18. His 7.67 FIP wasn’t much better. Hitters knocked Varland around to the tune of a .365 batting average and 1.085 OPS in the month of April. When the calendar turned to May, Louie was back home in St. Paul with the Saints.

Minnesota Twins planning to call up Louie Varland for Friday

This Friday, the Minnesota Twins have a crucial doubleheader scheduled vs the AL Central leading Cleveland Guardians. A red-hot Bailey Ober will take the mound for one of those games. According to Bobby Nightengale (Star Tribune) , Louie Varland is expected to be called upon as the team’s 27th man. He will get the other start.

It took awhile for the local kid to find his stuff and confidence in St. Paul. But he seems to have it back recently. In his last 31.1 innings (dating back to June 29), Varland has allowed just 5 total runs and striking out 35 MiLB hitters. In his most recent outing, Varland tossed a no-hitter through 5 innings, striking out 8 and walking just 1.

This won’t be the first spot start that Varland has made for the Minnesota Twins, since being sent down in the spring. He came up for a pair of starts in June, where he looked much improved from the guy who was sent down just a couple months earlier.

In those two starts, a protected Louie tossed 9.1 total innings . He allowed six hits and two earned runs (1.93 ERA), striking out seven and walking just one batter. His 2.31 FIP looks good, along with a .171 BA against (.388 OPS).

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The Twins will need pitching help for the rest of the regular season, especially after Joe Ryan left Wednesday’s game with a bicep injury. If Louie can come up tomorrow and pitch well again, he’ll probably stick around for a while.

More must-reads:

• Kyle Farmer Takes Brooks Lee’s Spot on Minnesota Twins Roster Amid Flurry of Moves
• Griffin Jax Looking to get Back Into Minnesota Twins Starting Rotation?
• What We Know About Minnesota Twins Ace Joe Ryan’s Arm Injury