By Tim Best

Louie Varland came to Utica in the summer of 2017, a year after his brother Gus helped lead the Blue Sox to the PGCBL championship series. Varland made eight starts on the bump in Utica, pitching 44.1 innings and racking up 51 strikeouts, the fifth-most in a season in franchise history. Varland is one of many pitchers who have thrived at the professional level under the tutelage of current Blue Sox manager Doug Delett, who served as the team’s pitching coach from 2016-18.

In 2019, the Twins selected Varland in the 15th round of the MLB Draft, a dream come true for the Minnesota native who had played collegiately at Concordia University in nearby St. Paul. Varland then emerged as one of the best pitchers in the Twins’ farm system in 2021, going 10-4 with a 2.10 ERA in 103 innings of work with 18 starts and 20 total appearances for two of Minnesota’s A clubs while racking up a whopping 142 strikeouts, which led to him being named the Twins’ Minor League Pitcher of the Year. 

Varland would follow that up by continuing his dominance in AA and AAA, compiling a record of 8-5 in 23 starts and 24 total appearances with a 3.06 ERA and 146 strikeouts in 126.1 innings. Not only was he named the Twins’ Minor League Pitcher of the Year for the second straight year, but he also earned a call-up to the big leagues in September. He made his debut on September 7 in the first game of a doubleheader at Yankee Stadium, allowing just two earned runs while striking out seven hitters in 5.1 innings with the first of those seven strikeouts coming against none other than Aaron Judge.

In 2023, the Twins would win the AL Central and defeat the Blue Jays in a two-game sweep in the AL Wildcard Series, ending the franchise’s 21-year drought of failing to win a playoff series. Varland appeared in both games of that series as he didn’t allow a run in 0.2 innings. In Game 2, he struck out Bo Bichette on a 99-mph heater.