FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Considering the sinker is the developing pitch that Louie Varland hopes will help him find better results against right-handed hitters this season, he really hasn’t thrown it a lot in games this spring. Every outing, he said, the plan would be to throw more of them, and every outing, some reason arises that stops him from doing so.

In Wednesday's 1-1 tie, he said he threw only one (although it was recorded as a four-seam fastball) -- and it was his only one, after the pitch ran all the way inside and hit Cardinals slugger Jordan Walker on the wrist.

“I’m a big Jordan Walker fan, so I felt really bad,” Varland said.

It’s not that Varland knows Walker all that well in person, but the fandom stems from a professional admiration stemming from the numerous battles they’ve had against each other as they came up through the Minor Leagues, which have always stood out in Varland’s memory.

“I’m just a big fan because he’s super young and he’s really good for that age,” Varland said. “There’s a couple counts and battles that we’ve had where I made a really good pitch and he got a hit off it. That’s why his name sticks with me. He’s just a really good hitter at a young age.”

Apologetic feelings aside, that hit batter was one of very few blips Varland has experienced this spring, during which he has thrown 11 scoreless innings with 11 strikeouts, one walk and only six hits allowed across four games (three starts). While other starting pitchers have largely ignored their in-game results to work on polishing new pitches or locating old ones, Varland hasn’t done that.

“I think some players have the opportunity to do that more so than others,” Varland said. “I know in some players’ circumstances, they’re trying to make the team.”

By that, he means himself, of course.

Varland remains on the outside of the rotation picture looking in, and much of that isn’t in his control, especially as the Twins largely don’t consider Spring Training stats in their roster decisions. The fifth spot in the Opening Day rotation is for Anthony DeSclafani unless the veteran can’t ramp up in time from the sore elbow that delayed him early in camp.

There should be more clarity on that soon, as DeSclafani is expected to first take the mound in a Minor League game Saturday to begin his innings ramp-up.

In the meantime, Varland still says he has a few tricks up his sleeve -- and he’ll just focus on continuing to get outs.

“I like Lou’s mentality there,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “He’s a young pitcher with something to prove. You don’t prove yourself by going out there and just tinkering with everything and experimenting with a half-dozen different things. That’s not how you go out there and show you’re ready to go pitch.”

Santana could hit leadoff against lefties
One pattern that has emerged in recent games is that Baldelli has slotted in Carlos Santana as his leadoff hitter against opposing left-handed starters, and while Spring Training lineups aren’t always indicative of regular-season thinking, that’s something that could carry into the season.

“It's something that I'm definitely thinking about and considering,” Baldelli said. “I think he will hit leadoff. I don't know if it's going to be the whole year. Our lineups really rarely hold for that long. But I think he's a good candidate to do it.”

The Twins liked Santana’s fit for his ability to hit left-handed pitching -- he’s a switch-hitter with better career splits hitting from the right side -- and from either side, he has elite feel for the strike zone that makes him good for a veteran plate appearance.

Donovan Solano did a lot of leading off against lefties last season, but he’s no longer on the team. Byron Buxton could also be a candidate for that -- especially since the Twins would have no qualms about Buxton hitting at the top of the order even once a right-handed pitcher swaps into the game.

Carlos Correa also hit leadoff for a chunk of last season, but that was also during the phase in which the Twins just tried mixing things up to try and spur his production.

There’s a good chance Baldelli continues to think about this through the end of spring -- and he said the leadoff role against lefties definitely isn’t down to one candidate.

“There's a few,” Baldelli said.

“Yeah, I don't want to write the whole article [for you],” he added after a pause.