Vikings wants to re-sign Cousins…..
North St. Paul native and Twins pitcher Louie Varland has enjoyed success as a starter and reliever in his first two major league seasons. The latter was a new role last September. Over 12 relief innings, he had 17 strikeouts and allowed just two runs, equaling an earned run average of 1.50.
But the plan right now is for Varland to be a starter, a role he wants. Between 2022 and 2023, his first 12 major league starts went well. He then struggled in his last three starts before being sent down to AAA-St. Paul.
Our Darren ‘Doogie’ Wolfson caught up recently with Varland at workout at MASH Baseball in Savage before he took off for spring training. Twins pitchers and catchers hit the field in Fort Myers later this week.
Between five MLB starts in 2022, then 10 early in 2023, Varland has worked 82 innings with a 4.83 ERA.
He was the Twins’ minor league pitcher of the year in 2021 and 2022 after being a 15th round draft choice in 2019 out of Concordia-St. Paul.
Varland still has options on his contract, so it’s possible he’ll open the 2024 season a starter for the Saints. But, much like Bailey Ober last year, it’s inevitable that he’ll be helping the Twins this year over the grind of a 162-game schedule.
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Twins Daily 2024 Top Prospects: #2 Brooks Lee, SS
On Twins Daily’s 2024 Top Prospects list, the player ranked penultimate is one you should expect to see a lot of with the major league squad in the upcoming season. The switch-hitting shortstop Brooks Lee is not to blame for his decline in the rankings.
Brooks Lee was, by general acclaim, one of the best hitters available in the 2022 MLB Draft, after spending three years playing for his dad at Cal Poly. The Twins were ecstatic to have him fall to them at eighth overall, and just two years later, he is primed for his debut at Target Field.
Age: 22 (DOB: 02/14/2001 – Happy Early Birthday, Brooks!)
2023 Stats (AA/AAA): 125 G, 567 PA, .275/.347/.461, 39 2B, 3 3B, 16 HR, 84 RBI, 7 SB, 9.9% BB, 16.0% K
ETA: 2024
2023 Ranking: 1
National Top 100 Rankings:
BA: 13 | MLB: 18 | ATH: 31 | BP: 16
What’s To Like
Like many of the prospects who rate this highly on team and national lists, Lee had been on the radar of professional scouts since his early teens. He was drafted by the San Francisco Giants in the 35th round coming out of high school, and the only reason he wasn’t taken much, much higher than that (i.e.: the first round), was because of his steadfast commitment to play in college for his dad, Larry Lee, in San Luis Obispo, CA.
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