Louie Varland was a 15th round pick by the Twins out of Concordia University, St. Paul in 2019. A graduate of North St. Paul High School, the 24-year-old Varland was having a great year with the Wichita Wind, the Twins AA affiliate. We went 7-4 with a 3.34 ERA in 20 games, struck out 119 while opponents are hitting .251 against him.
That’s enough to get called up to AAA and that means it was back to St. Paul for Varland. It also meant some tougher hitters and tougher competition, but Varland didn’t seem bothered at all by that, picking right up where he left off in Wichita.
His first start was certainly impressive. Varland threw 5⅓ one-hit, shutout innings as the Saints beat the Columbus Clippers 5-1 on Friday night at CHS Field.
Varland said he can’t imagine things going better when he spoke to WCCO’s Mike Max and Pete Najarian on “The Huddle”.
“It was unbelievable as you can probably imagine,” Varland explained. “We had everybody out at the game, things worked out perfectly and it was a great night.”
Varland said he had over 100 friends and family attend the game. His next start comes this Thursday night against Scranton.
“I like to keep it simple, keep it one game at a time,” says Varland. “I do a lot of work Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, preparing for the start.”
Varland was the Twins’ Minor League Pitcher of the Year in 2021 so this success certainly isn’t a surprise to the organization.
It’s also a family tradition for Varland. His older brother Gus was drafted by the Oakland A’s and is now in the Dodger organization pitching at AA Tulsa. In May, the brothers actually pitched against each other in Wichita. Younger Louie got the upper hand that night with a 7-2 win.
Varland’s mother, Kim, is a former employee of WCCO/Audacy and worked for many years in the Finance and HR departments.
All photos in this story courtesy of Reggie Photography.
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