On Sunday, the Minnesota Twins called up three players from Triple-A St. Paul. The selected the contract of 28-year-old oft overlooked prospect, (UF) Michael Helman, after placing Manuel Margot on the injured list.
Meanwhile, (IF) Brooks Lee and (RHP) Diego Castillo also got the call too, as part of the standard MLB September roster expansions. One surprising Saints player, who was not added to the Twins roster, was right-handed pitcher, Louie Varland.
This time, last year, the Minnesota Twins were converting Varland from a starter into a relief pitcher, for the 2023 stretch run. I know what some of you are wondering. Why would the Twins put Louie Varland into their bullpen for a playoff run, when he has pitched so poorly for them as a starter this season (36.2 IP, 6.14 ERA, 1.636 WHIP)?
Louie Varland was a different pitcher out of the Twins bullpen
Well… because he shoves. Even as a starter, the 26-year-old St. Paul native averages 96 MPH on his fastball. Louie’s cutter eclipses 90 MPH and his breaking balls look like frisbees. He has all the talent necessary to be a very good MLB starter. Unfortunately, his potential hasn’t blossomed into big league production yet… as a starter.
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But in a small sample size out of the MLB bullpen, the results have been completely different. In 12 innings pitched as a reliever in 2023, Varland posted a 1.50 ERA, 0.583 WHIP, .471 OPS against and 12.8 SO/9, all massively up vs his numbers as a 2023 starter, just like his velocity, which tipped 100 MPH multiple times.
| Varland ’23 | IP | ERA | WHIP | SO/9 | vs BA | vs OPS | vs BAbip |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | 56 | 5.30 | 1.357 | 8.7 | .270 | .848 | .297 |
| Reliever | 12 | 1.50 | 0.583 | 12.8 | .150 | .471 | .191 |
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
Last year, Louie Varland made for the perfect addition to a Minnesota Twins bullpen that desperately needed a shot of late-season adrenaline… much like the 2024 team does. Looking at the numbers, there’s no denying he provided exactly that.
Why haven’t the Minnesota Twins made the call?
So… why didn’t he get the call, this weekend, instead of, say, Diego Castillo? The Twins need bullpen help and he has somewhat proven himself as being a high-end option for middle innings that the team doesn’t currently have. Not only that, but he could pitch one, two or five innings, if necessary.
The problem is not that the Minnesota Twins don’t trust or want Varland, as a bullpen option. Nor is it that he refuses to make the move. The real reason they can’t put him to the bullpen right now is their lack of big league caliber starters.
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With Joe Ryan out for the season, the Twins cannot afford to convert Varland, right now, in case they were to suffer an injury in the rotation. Baldelli told reporters Sunday that the plan is still to get Louie into the bullpen, eventually.
“We’ll let him keep pitching right now and make sure he’s lined up and can give us whatever we need from him. You’re one day away, one move away, from having to readjust all of your original plans. Louie is doing fine, My guess is that he’ll be contributing at the big-league level in September for us a good bit.”
Rocco Baldelli (via The Athletic)
In fact, there is a “TBD” in Minnesota’s pitching schedule this week vs the Tampa Bay Rays, and it’ll probably be Varland who gets the call-up for that start, according to Do-Hyoung Park (MLB.com). So as nice as it would be to start the bullpen conversion process with Varland, they can’t… at least not yet.