Louis Varland

Louis Varland

27-Year-Old PitcherRP
Minnesota Twins
2025 Fantasy Outlook
Varland's future role and status as a major league pitcher are in question after he took a big step backward lats season. Varland ended the 2023 season as a weapon out of the bullpen posting a 1.50 ERA in 12 innings with a 17:1 K:BB ratio and a fastball that touched triple digits. The Twins debated whether to keep him in the major league bullpen in the spring, but decided to return him back to the rotation at Triple-A. He wasn't impressive at Triple-A with a 4.75 ERA but he may have been unlucky with a .357 BABIP as he had a 10.4 K/9 and 3.76 xFIP. When he was finally called up to the major league rotation, Varland struggled with home runs. He gave up an astounding 12 homers in 49.2 innings. After seven starts (6.40 ERA) he was moved to the bullpen where he continued to flounder. Despite his troubles, Varland was likely unlucky with a meteoric 21.1 HR/FB rate and .357 BABIP. He still had a strong 96.1 average mph fastball. He could stick in the bullpen next season and will compete for a major league role in the spring. Read Past Outlooks
RANKS
Rest of Season
From Preseason
#366
ADP
$Signed a one-year contract with the Twins in March of 2024.
Likely to win bullpen role
PMinnesota Twins
March 19, 2025
Varland is expected to make the Twins' major-league roster as a reliever, Matthew Leach of MLB.com reports. He's thrown nine scoreless innings with a 5:2 K:BB ratio this spring.
ANALYSIS
Manager Rocco Baldelli hasn't confirmed the move to the bullpen in an attempt to keep his options open, but Varland hasn't been building up innings to work as a starter this spring. The right-hander struggled last season as a starter in Triple-A with a 4.75 ERA. As a reliever in the majors during 2023, he showed promise with a 1.50 ERA in 12 innings and a 17:1 K:BB. Varland could soon be in the high-leverage mix due to a fastball that can touch triple digits.
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Pitching Stats
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2025
2024
2023
2022
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2024 MLB Game Log
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2023 MLB Game Log
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Pitching Appearances Breakdown
Average Pitch Count
12
Last 10 Games
12
Last 5 Games
12
How many pitches does Louis Varland generally throw?
 
1-10
 
11-20
 
21-30
 
31-40
 
41-50
 
51-60
 
61-70
 
71-80
 
81-90
 
91-100
 
101-110
 
111-120
 
121+
 
1-10
 
11-20
 
21-30
 
31-40
 
41-50
 
51-60
 
61-70
 
71-80
 
81-90
 
91-100
 
101-110
 
111-120
 
121+
 
1-10
 
11-20
 
21-30
 
31-40
 
41-50
 
51-60
 
61-70
 
71-80
 
81-90
 
91-100
 
101-110
 
111-120
 
121+
What part of the game does Louis Varland generally pitch?
 
 
 
1st
 
 
 
2nd
 
 
 
3rd
 
 
 
4th
 
 
 
5th
 
 
 
6th
 
 
 
7th
 
 
 
8th
 
 
 
9th
 
Extra
 
 
 
1st
 
 
 
2nd
 
 
 
3rd
 
 
 
4th
 
 
 
5th
 
 
 
6th
 
 
 
7th
 
 
 
8th
 
 
 
9th
 
Extra
 
 
 
1st
 
 
 
2nd
 
 
 
3rd
 
 
 
4th
 
 
 
5th
 
 
 
6th
 
 
 
7th
 
 
 
8th
 
 
 
9th
 
Extra
% Games Reaching Innings Threshold
% Games By Number of Innings Pitched
Left/Right Pitching Splits
Since 2023
 
 
-6%
BAA vs LHP
2025
 
 
-100%
BAA vs LHP
2024
 
 
-5%
BAA vs RHP
2023
 
 
-24%
BAA vs LHP
BAA Batters K BB H 2B 3B HR
Since 2023vs Left .271 224 54 13 56 5 2 11
Since 2023vs Right .289 301 66 20 79 11 2 17
2025vs Left .000 2 0 0 0 0 0 0
2025vs Right .500 2 0 0 1 1 0 0
2024vs Left .325 123 26 6 37 4 0 6
2024vs Right .310 115 23 10 31 4 0 6
2023vs Left .209 99 28 7 19 1 2 5
2023vs Right .275 184 43 10 47 6 2 11
More Splits View More Split Stats
Home/Away Pitching Splits
Since 2023
Even Split
2025
No Stats
2024
 
 
-25%
ERA at Home
2023
 
 
-3%
ERA at Home
ERA WHIP IP W L SV K/9 BB/9 HR/9
Since 2023Home 5.85 1.41 64.2 2 5 0 9.0 2.2 2.2
Since 2023Away 5.83 1.43 54.0 2 4 0 9.2 2.8 2.0
2025Home 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2025Away 0.00 1.00 1.0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 0.0
2024Home 6.94 1.63 35.0 0 3 0 8.7 2.8 2.1
2024Away 9.20 1.84 14.2 0 3 0 9.2 3.1 2.5
2023Home 4.55 1.15 29.2 2 2 0 9.4 1.5 2.4
2023Away 4.70 1.28 38.1 2 1 0 9.4 2.8 1.9
More Splits View More Split Stats
Stat Review
How does Louis Varland compare to other relievers?
This section compares his stats with all relief pitcher seasons from the previous three seasons (minimum 30 innings)*. The bar represents the player's percentile rank. For example, if the bar is halfway across, then the player falls into the 50th percentile for that stat and it would be considered average.

* Exit Velocity, Barrels/BBE %, Balls Hit 95+ MPH %, and Spin Rate are benchmarked against 2019 data (min 30 IP). See here for more exit velocity/barrels stats plus an explanation of current limitations with that data set.
  • K/BB
    Strikeout to walk ratio.
  • K/9
    Average strikeouts per nine innings.
  • BB/9
    Average walks per nine innings.
  • HR/9
    Average home runs allowed per nine innings.
  • Fastball
    Average fastball velocity.
  • ERA
    Earned run average. The average earned runs allowed per nine innings.
  • WHIP
    Walks plus hits per inning pitched.
  • BABIP
    Batting average on balls in play. Measures how many balls in play against a pitcher go for hits.
  • GB/FB
    Groundball to flyball ratio. The higher the number, the more likely a pitcher is to induce groundballs.
  • Left On Base
    The percentage of base runners that a pitcher strands on base over the course of a season.
  • Exit Velocity
    The speed of the baseball as it comes off the bat, immediately after a batter makes contact.
  • Barrels/BBE
    The percentage of batted ball events resulting in a Barrel. A Barrel is a batted ball with similar exit velocity and launch angle to past ones that led to a minimum .500 batting average and 1.500 slugging percentage.
  • Spin Rate
    Spin Rate is the rate of spin on a baseball after it is released. It is measured in revolutions per minute (rpm).
  • Balls Hit 95+ MPH
    The percentage of batted balls hit that met or exceeded the 95 MPH threshold.
  • Swinging Strike
    The percentage of pitches that result in a swing and a miss.
K/BB
0.00
 
K/9
0.0
 
BB/9
0.0
 
HR/9
0.0
 
Fastball
97.7 mph
 
ERA
0.00
 
WHIP
1.00
 
BABIP
.262
 
GB/FB
0.00
 
Left On Base
100.0%
 
Exit Velocity
0.0 mph
 
Barrels/BBE
0.0%
 
Spin Rate
0 rpm
 
Balls Hit 95+ MPH
0.0%
 
Swinging Strike
0.0%
 
Prospect Rankings History
Advanced Pitching Stats
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Defensive Stats
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Stats Vs Today's Lineup
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Past Fantasy Outlooks
2024
2023
Varland's improved velocity turned him into a late-season weapon out of the bullpen and has put him in contention for a prominent role in 2024 - but it's not clear whether that will be in the rotation or bullpen. Varland's improved velocity (up to 95.3 mph average fastball from 93.9 mph in the majors the previous season) resulted in a strong year at Triple-A with a 9.8 K/9 and 3.97 ERA and 3.32 FIP. He was called up early in the season as a starter and had initial success with a 3.51 ERA in seven starts, but then gave up 17 runs in 15 innings in his next three starts and was sent to the minors in June. He was called up to the bullpen in September and was a dominant reliever with a 1.50 ERA in 12 innings with a 17:1 K:BB ratio with a fastball that touched triple digits. Varland has said he'd like to remain a starter, but it will be hard for the Twins to keep him out of the bullpen given his success. Still, he's in the mix for the fifth starter role this spring.
Varland was an unheralded 2019 15th-round draft pick out of local Division II Concordia in Minnesota, but made a big leap in 2021 thanks to a large uptick in velocity (to a mid-90s fastball). That bought him a ticket to Double-A to begin 2022 where he impressed with a 3.34 ERA, 119:39 K:BB and 1.34 WHIP in 105 innings over 20 appearances (19 starts). He soon was in the majors for five starts late in the season where he held his own (3.81 ERA and 4.30 FIP). While he had just a 7.2 K/9 in the majors, he had a 10.2 K/9 or higher at every level of the minors. Varland has good control (2.1 BB/9 in the majors and 3.1 BB/9 at Double-A) and keeps hitters off balance with solid change-up and slider off-speed pitches. He'll compete for a rotation spot this spring but may need more time at Triple-A. He could surprise given how he's overachieved at every level so far in his career.
More Fantasy News
Likely to move to bullpen
PMinnesota Twins
February 14, 2025
Varland is likely to work as a reliever this spring and try to win a spot in the bullpen, Bobby Nightengale of the Minnesota Star Tribune reports. "It's very possible that we see a good amount of him out of the bullpen this year," manager Rocco Baldelli said.
ANALYSIS
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Moving to bullpen
PMinnesota Twins
September 6, 2024
Varland is expected to be used in a traditional relief role down the stretch, Dan Hayes of The Athletic reports.
ANALYSIS
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Disastrous outing as bulk reliever
PMinnesota Twins
September 5, 2024
Varland (0-6) took the loss Wednesday, surrendering eight runs on five hits and a walk over 2.1 relief innings as the Twins were downed 9-4 by the Rays. He struck out one.
ANALYSIS
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Recalled, should work in bulk relief
PMinnesota Twins
September 4, 2024
The Twins recalled Varland from Triple-A St. Paul on Wednesday.
ANALYSIS
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Could start Wednesday for big club
PMinnesota Twins
September 2, 2024
Varland may be a candidate for a promotion from Triple-A St. Paul to fill the opening in the Twins rotation Wednesday at Tampa Bay, Do-Hyoung Park of MLB.com reports.
ANALYSIS
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Latest Fantasy Rumors
Sticking in bullpen?
PMinnesota Twins
January 26, 2025
Per Dan Hayes of The Athletic, there is a "growing sense" that Varland will primarily work as a reliever in 2025.
ANALYSIS
The right-hander earned a spot in Minnesota's Opening Day rotation last year but made just seven starts as he surrendered 23 earned runs over 32.1 innings. Varland didn't fare much better in nine relief appearances with a 9.87 ERA, but he's still likely a more proper fit in the bullpen. No official decision has been made, and Varland's role to begin 2025 may ultimately depend on the health of the Twins' other rotation options this spring.
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