Rocco Baldelli couldn’t help but rave. Just days after the team was eliminated from the American League playoffs last fall, the Twins manager was still marveling over Louie Varland’s stint in the bullpen.
“I think he has the ability to be an elite reliever,” Baldelli said at the time. “… It’s hard to look away from that and not at least think about that going forward.”
But while the Twins certainly liked what they saw — Varland’s stuff played up out of the bullpen, and in seven regular-season games as a reliever, he had a 1.50 earned-run average, striking out 17 in 12 innings — the Twins have made clear that they also believe in the North St. Paul grad’s ability to start.
And on that note, the Twins are planning on having Varland stretch out as a starter this spring.
Though Varland made 10 pitching starts for the Twins last season, coming up to fill in after Kenta Maeda landed on the injured list, he appears ticketed to begin the season at Triple-A St. Paul, should Pablo López, Joe Ryan, Bailey Ober, Chris Paddack and the recently-acquired Anthony DeSclafani all stay healthy. Even if Varland starts the season with the Saints, he could be called upon quickly — last year, for example, two starters hit the injured list within the first month of the season.
While the Twins could always decide to move him back to the bullpen again at some point, they currently have plenty of bullpen depth, and as a starter, Varland would be in line to be the first man called upon when the Twins need an arm for the rotation.
Still, he said, his focus was to come in to camp and “compete and try to earn a job.”
“Good teams need depth,” Varland said. “I’ll help in any way possible.”
Varland’s success and longevity as a starter could hinge upon the two-seamer that he’s been working on that he said has more horizontal run into right-handed hitters. He also said he’s been working on a slider with more depth.
“I need to be able to adapt on the fly because once the league adapts to you, you have to be able to adapt to the adaptation,” he said. “That’s how you stick around for years in the league.”
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