Twins rookie Louie Varlands rise from Division II late bloomer to 100 mph playoff weapon

June 15, 2024

Louie Varland knew he wanted to keep playing baseball after graduating from North St. Paul High School in 2016, so he contacted all but one of the schools in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference, a collection of upper-Midwest colleges competing at the Division II level.

Concordia University in St. Paul was the only NSIC school Varland didn’t call, because his older brother, Gus Varland, was already a star pitcher there for the Golden Bears. Louie, like the typical little brother, wanted to compete against Gus, not follow in his footsteps.

“We’ve always played together, since we were probably 10 years old, when he was 9 playing up (a level) with me,” Gus told The Athletic. “And me being older, I was always the No. 1 and he was the No. 2, pitching wise. I think he got sick of that.”

But there was one problem: None of the NSIC schools were interested in him.

“Some responded,” Louie said, “but most of them didn’t even respond at all.”

When those plans fell through and he eventually reached out to Concordia, the coaches were hesitant because Gus had told them about Louie wanting to pitch anywhere but there.

“We knew Gus had a brother,” said Marcus McKenzie, Corcordia’s pitching coach at the time. “We went out and watched him throw. We were like, wow, there is another kid with an unbelievable arm. We really liked him, but Louie was so competitive. He’ll say it. He didn’t want to come to Concordia.”

Louie arrived at Concordia as a skinny kid with a wrestling background and a mid-80s fastball. He was very raw, and his breaking ball was rudimentary at best, but McKenzie believed he could follow in Gus’ footsteps by developing from a good high school thrower into a dominant college pitcher through better mechanics and strength training.

“You could tell he had the wrestler in him, so he had that competitive nature,” McKenzie said. “He knew he had an opportunity to get as big as he wanted in the weight room, so he got really serious about that. Right away, he was just a hard thrower. But you could tell, if he keeps working at it, he’s going to be a guy who has a chance to play professionally.”

Congrats to Louie Varland of @CSPBearsBase on being named CSP Male Athlete of the Week!
🔥9-inn shutout win over BSU
📈career-high 10 strikeouts
💪21.0 scoreless to start 2018, leading DII baseball
More: https://t.co/R9X7h3Rzjy #BeGolden pic.twitter.com/xTsL8WISP7

— Concordia St. Paul (@CSPBears) April 2, 2018

Louie played three years at Concordia, where he increased his velocity to the low 90s, learned a usable breaking ball and posted a 2.73 ERA with 131 strikeouts in 115 innings. Selected by the Minnesota Twins in the 15th round of the 2019 draft, he bypassed his senior season to sign for $115,000.

“I think the Twins were going to offer Louie like 100,” McKenzie said. “And he was like, no, I want closer to what my brother got.”

“It’s not so much of a rivalry,” said Gus, who was drafted by the Oakland Athletics in the 14th round and signed for $125,000. “It’s more just the competitive nature of pushing each other to try and be the best we can be.”

Sibling rivalry or not, it’s worked. Today, the Varland brothers are both in the major leagues, with playoff-bound teams (though the Dodgers just placed Gus on the 60-day injured list). They’re the only two big leaguers in Concordia history. And in a fun twist of fate, McKenzie actually beat them to the majors by becoming the visiting clubhouse manager at Target Field.

“He throws a fastball in the 88-92 mph range and has a fringy breaking ball.”

That was Baseball America’s pre-draft scouting report for Louie Varland. And it was accurate, too.

“I was a late bloomer,” Varland said. “For college, I’ve got an overpowering fastball, so I didn’t really need another pitch. But when I got to pro ball, that obviously doesn’t work. It’s professional baseball, you need more than one pitch, especially if you want to start. It was kind of eye-opening to see and need more.”

Concordia coaches McKenzie and John Gaub — a former Gophers standout who pitched briefly for the Chicago Cubs in 2011 — had helped Varland get stronger and throw harder, but the Twins felt there was even more upside to unlock. However, a 2019 elbow injury and the cancellation of the 2020 minor-league season meant most of his early pro work took place behind the scenes.

“That season (2020) was weird,” Varland said. “Everybody was throwing hard. It was probably because there wasn’t a season, so you only threw once a week. It was more like college, where you’re just training. It was more specific and slow. You can work out a lot more stuff rather than just being bad (in games). It was basically a year to just try to throw hard.”

Varland emerged in 2021 looking like a different pitcher, throwing 93-95 mph from a noticeably lower arm slot. There was suddenly prospect buzz.

“From there, the Twins even lowered his arm slot even more, which made him the pitcher he is today,” Gus said. “I think the biggest adjustment he’s made is just getting the arm slot down so that he could get into a better, more efficient throwing motion. And more consistent. From there, he just took off.”

Louie Varland gets Aaron Judge swinging for his first career strikeout, with his family cheering at Yankee Stadium. pic.twitter.com/HMzf9MSu93

— Aaron Gleeman (@AaronGleeman) September 7, 2022

Over the next two seasons, he dominated all four levels of the minors, winning back-to-back Twins minor league pitcher of the year awards. Varland made his MLB debut last September, at Yankee Stadium, in front of an entire section of screaming, sign-waving family members. This year, he spent much of the first half in the Twins’ rotation, filling in for injured starters.

“I would credit mechanics for that velocity jump, but also I did get stronger and gain weight,” Varland said. “We have a great biomechanical department. (Twins assistant director of sports science) Martijn Verhoeven is world-class at it. They push for you to try stuff.”

Varland has held his own through his first 15 starts for the Twins, averaging 94 mph with his fastball while posting a 4.83 ERA and a solid 75-to-22 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 82 innings. His biggest weakness has been allowing 1.9 homers per nine innings, about 50 percent more than the average MLB starter, leading to a late-June demotion back to Triple-A St. Paul.

With no vacancies in the Twins’ rotation and his mid-90s fastball fully locked in, Varland spent July and August with the Saints and focused on refining secondary pitches, including a low-90s cutter that now shows signs of being a real weapon. And when MLB rosters expanded on Sept. 1, the Twins called up Varland, not as a starter but as a reliever, believing his stuff could be explosive in short stints.

“I’m a better pitcher than I was a couple months ago,” Varland said.

Varland made his big-league relief debut on Sept. 6. His first fastball clocked in at 97.6 mph and his first cutter produced a swinging strikeout. His stuff, which was already very good as a starter, has indeed been explosive as a reliever.

“He’s going out there with a different array of stuff (in relief),” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “The cutter is becoming a good pitch for him, something he can use against righties and lefties. He can attack hitters and go right at them with everything he’s got. He should feel confident. He looks really good right now.”

Four strikeouts in two scoreless innings for Louie Varland, who is consistently working at 97-100 mph out of the #MNTwins bullpen. pic.twitter.com/wxziEvxf9y

— Aaron Gleeman (@AaronGleeman) September 16, 2023

Through four relief appearances totaling 8 1/3 innings, Varland has an 11-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio and .172 batting average against. His fastball has risen from 94.9 mph as a starter to 97.2 mph as a reliever, and he’s topped out at 100 mph. His cutter velocity is also up slightly and he’s thrown the pitch one-third of the time in relief, getting a whiff on an eye-popping 46 percent of swings.

“That cutter is so good,” Joe Ryan said. “When he came up last season, I was telling him, the fastball is a great pitch, but that cutter is special. I think just let it eat at 92-93 right now with great movement, especially with the heater, too.”

When the playoffs begin on Oct. 3, he’ll be in the Twins’ bullpen. Now it’s just a question of how far up the relief pecking order Varland can climb by then.

Mention the Varland family to anyone who knows them in Minnesota and you’ll likely hear stories about work ethic and authenticity. “Salt of the earth” is a common phrase used to describe them. Varland Drywall has been a family business in North St. Paul for 30 years, and Louie could often be found on job sites plastering and painting during offseasons.

“He’s one of the hardest workers I’ve ever met in my life,” Gus said. “It’s hard to keep up with him, but he’s a great offseason workout partner.”

“He competes and works his ass off,” Ryan said.

In baseball, hard work without talent doesn’t always turn into a whole lot, and Varland has also been fortunate to receive good coaching, both at Concordia and with the Twins. But not all raw clay is as moldable as Varland, and it’s not a coincidence that a pair of self-described “late bloomer” brothers have blown away all expectations.

“Louie is not one of those kids who will settle,” McKenzie said. “Every time someone gives him something, he’s so focused on ‘I’m going to do that because I know it’s going to help me get better.’ … I think that’s why Louie works so fast. He doesn’t make the moment too big. That’s why he can go into Yankee Stadium and not be a scared young kid. That’s a tribute to his parents.”

It was an emotional day for Louie Varland and his family. His brother, Gus, was able to leave his Double-A team briefly to see him debut.

Kim Varland, his mother: “It’s like watching a movie. We’re just floating around.” pic.twitter.com/4F71JcJl4T

— Betsy Helfand (@betsyhelfand) September 8, 2022

Twins officials talked up Varland as potential late-season bullpen help months in advance, because they were confident he had the talent to make an impact in relief and the mindset to take the temporary role change in stride. Varland still views himself as a starter, and the Twins likely have him penciled into the 2024 rotation, but he’s all-in on letting it rip as a reliever down the stretch.

“I’ll do whatever it takes to make the Twins win,” Varland said. “Whatever they need. We’re looking to make a push in the playoffs. All hands on deck.”

Plenty of good starters got their feet wet as relievers in the playoffs, including Johan Santana, Adam Wainwright, David Price and Corbin Burnes. On the other hand, Francisco Rodríguez, Jonathan Papelbon, Neftalí Feliz and Joba Chamberlain are among the prominent starter prospects who impressed so much as playoff relievers that they never went back to starting.

Of course, that would be a nice problem to have, because it would mean the Twins made a playoff run and Varland thrived in October. But that’s the sort of upside someone with his electric stuff could have in one- or two-inning outings.

“He’s a different pitcher in shorter stints,” Baldelli said. “He’s throwing almost 100 with a 90-mile-per-hour cutter. There’s a lot to work with right now.”

Varland sat down with Twins officials prior to making the move to the bullpen and came away sufficiently assured they still consider him a long-term starter. He’s a high-upside arm with a bright future, but he’s also a 25-year-old lifelong Twins fan from North St. Paul who just wants to help his hometown team snap a two-decade playoff losing streak.

“It means everything,” Varland said. “I grew up a Twins fan. And now I’m here on the Twins, helping the team win. All that matters right now is winning.”

— The Athletic’s Dan Hayes and Sahadev Sharma contributed to this story.

(Top photo of Louie Varland: Mike Ehrmann / Getty Images)

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