Louis Varland has been everything the Toronto Blue Jays could have hoped for since the team acquired him in a deal with the Minnesota Twins at the 2025 trade deadline.
The 28-year-old righty, who was acquired alongside first baseman Ty France in a deal for outfielder Alan Roden and pitching prospect Kendrys Rojas, was not viewed as a potential season-altering deal, the way the trade to acquire former Cy Young winner Shane Bieber was.
But Varland would go on to become a core member of the Blue Jays bullpen and one of manager John Schneider’s most trusted arms in guiding the team to a historic trip to the World Series.
Varland set an MLB record for appearances by a pitcher in a single postseason in 2025, when he appeared in 15 games, providing a 3.94 earned-run average over 16.0 innings.
“He’s kind of a different animal,” Schneider said about Varland last October. “It’s not normal to put a guy in as much as I have and have his stuff be consistent. I was talking to [general manager] Ross [Atkins] at the deadline. He was one guy that I really wanted to acquire.”
After ascending to a prominent role in the postseason picture for the Jays, Varland has taken it a step further this season. Jeff Hoffman struggled mightily in the closer’s role early in the 2026 campaign, soVarland was moved to the spot and has been maybe the best relief pitcher in the majors through the first two months of the season.
Varland earned AL Reliever of the Month honours for April, and has allowed only one earned run over 26 appearances this season for a sparkling 0.31 ERA.
Entering play on Thursday, Varland is tied for fourth in the majors in pitching appearances (his Blue Jays teammates Mason Fluharty (29) and Braydon Fisher (28) are ranked first and tied for second), and he wouldn’t have it any other way.
“For my sake, the more I pitch, the better I feel, the better I think my stuff is.” Varland told MLB.com’s Keegan Matheson earlier in May. “If I take too long in between outings, I don’t know if I do, but I feel like I lose some touch. Being out there every other day, or a couple days in a row, more often than not, I think keeps me sharp.”
Varland’s journey to the majors has been moulded by an ability to do whatever his coaches ask. It’s helped him climb from Division II Concordia St. Paul to the majors. As MLB.com’s Michael Clair reports, no player from Concordia St. Paul has appeared in the majors since 1951.
“[My brother Gus and I] both went to Concordia St. Paul, small little private school in Minnesota,” Varland said earlier this week. “And then a couple scouts started coming to the games for Gus, and he got drafted. And then they found out he had a little brother. Same thing happened to me. A couple scouts came to my games, just a little bit of exposure is what we got, and we just took it and ran. We’re extremely lucky to be in the situation we are right now.”
Gus Varland is currently pitching for the Washington Nationals, with a 3.80 ERA in 22 games.
Varland, a native of St. Paul, Minn., said it was a dream to play for his hometown Twins, who drafted him in the 15th round of the 2019 MLB Draft and where he spent the first four years of his major-league career. But he’s developed a soft spot in his heart for Toronto after less than a year there.
“Toronto is obviously a way bigger city, but it’s pretty similar. It’s not like playing for your hometown team, but it’s a very cool experience playing in Toronto as well.”
Varland is looking to continue providing whatever the team and Schneider ask of him. The flamethrowing righty, whose fastball routinely touches 100mph, is already delivering one of the best seasons by a relief pitcher in team history.
“Any time I can pitch in a game – playoffs, regular season, doesn’t matter – I’m excited for it,” Varland said. “I think keeping an optimistic attitude toward every outing, every opportunity is the best thing for you. It builds confidence. You’re not out there scared.”
The Blue Jays (27-29) open a four-game series against the division-rival Baltimore Orioles on Thursday as they continue to try to climb back to .500 and back into contention in the AL East.
