Louie Dennis Varland...Twitter: @LouieVarland...Instagram: @louievarland...St. Paul native who attended North St. Paul High School, where he wrestled and played football, in addition to baseball... attended Concordia University, St. Paul...helped out at his father Wade's drywall business when he was younger...his aunts, Denise and Sue, were legendary softball pitchers at North St. Paul...his older brother, Gus, is a pitcher in the Milwaukee Brewers organization; the duo played together at North St. Paul and Concordia, and train together in the offseason...favorite movie is Rocky I, favorite musical artist is the Red Hot Chili Peppers and favorite food is sushi...enjoys fishing during the offseason...favorite sports team is the Minnesota Vikings...favorite opposing ballpark is Guaranteed Rate Field...his favorite pregame meal is Chipotle...participated in the 2023 Twins Winter Caravan, visiting Welch and Rochester, MN, and Mason City, IA...was a featured guest at the Baseball Old Timers Hot Stove League over the winter at the Southview Country Club in St. Paul...participated in 2023 TwinsFest at Target Field in January.
2022
Began season with Double-A Wichita...Struck out minor league season-high 10 batters in second start April 14 at Northwest Arkansas (5.2 IP)…Promoted to Triple-A St. Paul on Aug. 9...Made four starts for the Saints from Aug. 12-31, going 1-1, 1.69 ERA (21.1 IP, 4 ER) with three walks and 27 strikeouts...Named Twins Minor League Pitcher of the Week four times: June 12 with Wichita, July 3 with Wichita, Aug. 14 with St. Paul and Aug. 28 with St. Paul...Contract selected as 29th man for doubleheader Sept. 7, one of four stints with the Twins (2 as a 29th player)…Made Major League debut in Game 1 of doubleheader Sept.7 at New York-AL, allowing two runs on three hits in 5.1 innings pitched, with one walk and seven strikeouts...became the fourth pitcher in Twins history (1961-present) with at least seven strikeouts and one-or-fewer walks allowed in his major league debut, joining Hall of Famer Bert Blyleven (7 K, 1 BB June 5, 1970), Yohan Pino (7 K, 1 BB June 19, 2014) and Devin Smeltzer (7 K, 0 BB May 28, 2019)…first career strikeout victim was Aaron Judge in the first inning...Earned first career win in final game of season Oct. 5 at Chicago-AL, pitching 5.0 shutout innings with four hits allowed, no walks and five strikeouts in a Twins 10-1 victory...Led all Twins minor leaguers in strikeouts (146) and innings pitched (126.1), was tied for first in games started (23) and was second in ERA (3.06), second in winning percentage (.615), fourth in opponent batting average (.242) and WHIP (1.26), and tied for fifth in wins (8)…Combined to go 9-7, 3.19 ERA (152.1 IP, 54 ER) with 48 walks and 167 strikeouts in 29 games (28 starts) between Minnesota, St. Paul and Wichita...Went 8-5, 3.06 ERA (126.1 IP, 43 ER), 42 walks, 146 strikeouts, a 1.26 WHIP and a .242 (117- for-484) opponent batting average in 24 minor league games (23 starts)…named Jim Rantz Award winner as Twins Minor League Pitcher of the Year for the second consecutive season, joining José Berríos (2014-15) as the only pitcher to win the award in back-to-back seasons...Ranked as 10th-best prospect in Twins organization by MLB.com after season and entering 2023...Ranked as having best control in Twins system by Baseball America, entering 2023.
2021
Began season with Low-A Fort Myers...Named Low-A Southeast Pitcher of the Week on June 13 while at Fort Myers, making one start at Jupiter, pitching 6.0 shutout innings with two hits allowed, two walk sand 11 strikeouts...Promoted to High-A Cedar Rapids on July 13...Recorded double-digit strikeouts four times on season: 10 on May 4 at Bradenton, 11 on June 9 at Jupiter, 10 on July 9 at St. Lucie and 11 on Sept. 15 at Peoria...Named Twins minor league Pitcher of the Week on July 25 while at Cedar Rapids, making one start vs. Beloit, pitching 5.0 shutout innings with one hit allowed, two walks and nine strikeouts...Named Twins minor league Pitcher of the Week again at Cedar Rapids on Sept. 19, making one start at Peoria, allowing two runs (one earned) on four hits in 6.0 innings pitched with no walks and a season-high 11 strikeouts...Combined to go 10-4, 2.10 ERA (103.0 IP, 24 ER) with 30 walks, 142 strikeouts, a .214 opponent batting average and a 1.09 WHIP in 20 games (18 starts) between both levels...held right-handed batters to a .225 (34-for-151) average and left-handed batters to a .250 (28-for-112) average...Led all Twins minor leaguers in ERA, strikeouts and WHIP...ranked second in ERA (minimum 100.0 IP)...Named starting pitcher on MiLB.com organizational All-Star team...Named Jim Rantz Award winner as Twins minor league Pitcher of the Year.
2020
Did not pitch due to the cancellation of the minor leagues season (COVID-19).
2019
Made his professional debut with Rookie-Elizabethton...made three appearances, one start...struck out 10 batters in 8.2 innings pitched... made professional debut with 2.0 scoreless innings of relief on June 22 at Kingsport, walking two and striking out four.
