Despite risks, it's time for Twins to add Louie Varland to their bullpen

The Twins desperately need more reliable contributors in their bullpen. Varland can be that.

Aug 14, 2024; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Twins starting pitcher Louie Varland (37) throws against the Kansas City Royals in the first inning at Target Field. / Bruce Kluckhohn-USA TODAY Sports

A couple interesting things happened on Wednesday night involving the top two levels of the Minnesota Twins' organization.

At Target Field, the big-league club saw its bullpen blow yet another game in a sweep-completing loss to the Braves. Rookie starter David Festa went six strong innings, but was pulled after walking the leadoff man in the top of the 7th of a 1-1 game. In came Caleb Thielbar, who immediately gave up an RBI double and a run-scoring single. He was replaced by Jorge Alcala, who allowed a pair of hits, including a two-run double (which probably should've been caught by Manuel Margot in left field).

Just like that, the Twins were on their way to a 5-1 loss, their eighth in the last ten games. A bullpen that is falling apart has been a central factor in five of those defeats. Outside of Griffin Jax and Cole Sands, no Twins relievers — not even Jhoan Duran — have been reliable lately.

Meanwhile, in Nebraska, the St. Paul Saints got a gem of an outing from Louie Varland in a 3-2 victory over the Omaha Storm Chasers. Varland entered with a two-run lead in the third inning and threw five scoreless innings, allowing one hit and two walks while striking out nine. He was absolutely dominant.

Louie Varland was electric coming on in relief for the @StPaulSaints in the win⚡️

5 IP / 1 H / 0 R / 2 BB / 9 K

His nine strikeouts were a season high and were the most he’s had in a game since April 2023 ⚔️#MNTwins pic.twitter.com/659R1d5QxJ

— Twins Player Development (@TwinsPlayerDev) August 29, 2024

There's been plenty of discussion about whether or not the Twins will move Varland to the bullpen, which they did around this time last year. He has a 6.14 ERA in eight MLB appearances this season (seven starts and one long relief outing), but he showed last year that his stuff can play up in a relief role. Varland allowed two earned runs in 12 innings in September 2023, striking out 17, and then pitched in two postseason games. His fastball, which typically sits at 94-96 MPH as a starter, was up to 99 MPH in the playoffs.

There's little doubt that the Twins could use Varland in their bullpen right now. He'd give them a high-octane arm who could join the high-leverage mix with Jax, Duran, Sands, and Alcala. The issue — and the reason it hasn't happened yet — is that Varland is next in line to be called upon in the starting rotation. With Joe Ryan and Chris Paddack hurt, the Twins have turned to rookies David Festa and Zebby Matthews alongside Pablo Lopez, Bailey Ober, and Simeon Woods-Richardson in their rotation. If anything happens to one of those five, Varland would be the next man up. But if he's moved to the Twins' bullpen, he'd no longer be stretched out and available in a starting role.

Nonetheless, the Twins can't afford to wait any longer and hope Michael Tonkin saves their bullpen or Justin Topa gets healthy. They need to do anything they can to prevent this season from slipping away from them, because they're in real danger of missing the playoffs if they continue like this.

Regardless of the risks, it's time to call Varland up and use him out of the bullpen. If that means potentially having to call on Randy Dobnak or Caleb Boushley for rotation depth, so be it. Varland can help them win games now, which is what matters most.