Louie Varland DVOA, Advanced Stats, & Fantasy Rankings

According to Dan Hayes of The Athletic, Minnesota Twins right-handed pitcher Louie Varland will likely open the season in a relief role. Hayes noted that Varland could be built up for a long relief role, but if everything goes to plan with the health of their other starters, Varland will be deployed out of the bullpen for the majority of the season. The 27-year-old opened the 2024 campaign in the rotation but struggled as he posted a hefty 9.18 ERA and a 2.16 WHIP across his first four starts of the season. Varland transitioned to a bullpen role over the final month of the regular season and held a 7.59 ERA and a 1.16 WHIP across 10 2/3 innings. His underlying metrics were not favorable. However, during his first two MLB seasons, the 27-year-old held a 4.40 ERA and a 1.22 WHIP. Fantasy managers should expect him to open the season with a low-leverage role and will likely not carry much fantasy value.

MLB.com's Do-Hyoung Park assumes that Minnesota Twins right-hander Louie Varland will get the nod to start on Wednesday against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field given how he lines up this week, which also plays into why he wasn't part of the team's roster expansions on Sunday. Varland is currently at Triple-A St. Paul, but he figures to come up this week for a spot start as the Twins look to get their regular starters some extra rest to kick off the final month of the regular season. The 26-year-old has an ERA over 6.00 with 32 strikeouts in 36 2/3 innings over eight outings (seven starts) for the Twins in 2024. However, he had a quality start in six innings in his last start on Aug. 14 against the Kansas City Royals and has been very solid of late at St. Paul. Regardless of his recent hot stretch in the minors, Varland will be a shaky fantasy streamer if he starts on Wednesday with not much strikeout upside.

The Minnesota Twins recalled right-hander Louie Varland from Triple-A St. Paul on Friday as the 27th man to start Game 2 of the team's doubleheader against the visiting division-rival Cleveland Guardians. Depending on how Varland fares in his start on Friday, the Twins could call on him again soon now that right-hander Joe Ryan (shoulder) could potentially miss most, if not all, of the rest of the 2024 season. The 26-year-old will be making just his sixth start for Minnesota this year on Friday and won't be a recommended fantasy streamer against the first-place Guardians. In his six appearances this year, Varland has gone 0-4 with a 6.58 ERA (5.75 FIP), a 1.65 WHIP and a 25:10 K:BB in 26 innings pitched. Varland's last appearance in the big leagues came back on June 16, when he gave up two earned runs in 4 1/3 innings of relief against the Oakland Athletics.