{"id":730511,"date":"2026-06-11T20:37:08","date_gmt":"2026-06-11T20:37:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/730511\/"},"modified":"2026-06-11T20:37:08","modified_gmt":"2026-06-11T20:37:08","slug":"fuelled-by-velo-slap-varland-emerges-as-blue-jays-bullpen-ace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/730511\/","title":{"rendered":"Fuelled by\u00a0velo\u00a0slap, Varland emerges as Blue Jays\u2019 bullpen ace"},"content":{"rendered":"

TORONTO \u2013 Graham Johnson first noticed the two-handed back smack Louis Varland<\/a> gets on his way out of the bullpen during the Toronto Blue Jays<\/a>\u2019 visit to Minnesota last June. He\u2019d seen the unusual practice, known as a velo slap, before, but only on pitchers seeking an adrenaline surge while chasing personal bests on the radar gun during off-season training. Seeing a pitcher get one before a big-league outing was a first, which is why it immediately came to mind for him seven weeks later, when the righty who has since emerged as one of the sport\u2019s most dominant relievers was acquired from the Twins at the deadline.<\/p>\n

\u201cWonder if he’s going to want that here, is that a him thing, or was that just whatever,\u201d the Blue Jays bullpen coach remembers joking with pitching coach Pete Walker and assistant pitching coach Sam Greene. \u201cLouis didn’t do it the very first outing with us. And then the second one, he had talked to Drop (Alex Andreopoulos, then a bullpen catcher) about doing it \u2026 and Drop just kind of shoved him.<\/p>\n

“I was like, all right, I know what this is. So that game ends, I go to him, \u2018Do you need me to do the velo slap?\u2019 He’s like, \u2018Yes, that was terrible.\u2019 We’ve done that ever since.\u201d<\/p>\n

The two-handed smack to the meaty part of Varland\u2019s upper back \u2013 \u201cIt gets the hands pretty good \u2013 it lights me up so it can’t feel great for him,\u201d said Johnson \u2013 has become his signature sendoff en route to what are usually the highest leverage outs, be they in the ninth inning or otherwise, of any given game.<\/p>\n

In that sense Varland has become the de facto closer for the Blue Jays, but the better way to think of the 28-year-old from St. Paul, Minn., is as the reliever the team wants for what projects to be the most difficult late-game assignment. Often that\u2019s in the ninth inning, as evidenced by his 11 saves, but it very well might be earlier, like on May 27 when he handled the eighth and Tyler Rogers the ninth in a 2-1 win over the Miami Marlins.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy process when we check our work, it’s how often did you have your top choice in the highest leverage spot of the game,\u201d explains Blue Jays manager John Schneider. \u201cIt doesn’t always work out that way. There are roles to fill through a little bit. But if you’re hitting a really good pocket with your best reliever at the highest part of the game, usually the outcome is pretty good.\u201d<\/p>\n

Based on leverage index, which measures the pressure of the situation relievers enter into with 1.0 being average, Varland\u2019s usage checks that box with a score of 1.92, easily tops on the Blue Jays outside a pair of small-sample size anomalies. To contextualize the, Rogers is second at 1.49, followed by Jeff Hoffman at 1.42, Braydon Fisher at 1.36 and Mason Fluharty at 1.11, a clear depiction of the Blue Jays\u2019 circle of trust.<\/p>\n

Varland\u2019s dominance thus far \u2013 a 0.50 ERA with a WHIP of 0.981 and 46 strikeouts in 35.2 innings across 32 games \u2013 has produced an fWAR of 1.7 that\u2019s tied with Cade Smith, a tick behind Mason Miller\u2019s 1.8 for the lead among big-league relievers. That should make him a top contender for the American League side of the new Reliever of the Year awards the Baseball Writers\u2019 Association of America is voting on for the first time in 2026.<\/p>\n

The premium placed on the ninth inning means accumulating saves will likely be key to winning the award. But the Blue Jays\u2019 approach to Varland opens an interesting window into different ways of assessing who is the best reliever in a given season.<\/p>\n

“There is something about pitching the ninth inning, you have to have the head space to to do it, whether it’s three runs or whether it’s one run,\u201d Schneider concedes. \u201cBut I think the reliever that comes in for the highest leverage spot of the game most consistently is probably your most valuable reliever. When a guy comes in with a three-run lead in the ninth inning and gets a save, it’s usually a lower leverage spot than maybe the sixth or the seventh, where the lead changes or something like that. So I think it\u2019s a guy that can be flexible for those spots, miss bats and be durable, which is very, very important.\u201d<\/p>\n

Walker, the longtime Blue Jays pitching coach, agrees about the ninth inning, noting how \u201cit’s mentally more difficult,” but, he quickly adds, \u201cI still think the leverage index is huge.\u201d<\/p>\n

Elements that should be factored into assessments of relievers, he argues, include \u201cguys that can go multi-inning in high-leverage situations, not just for a save, it could be the seventh or eighth inning. Guys should be rewarded, as well, for coming into a jam, getting out of it and going back out, with what that does (for a team\u2019s chances of winning a game) and how tough that is mentally, physically. \u2026 There are some closers that won’t do that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Varland, of course, does which is why Schneider, obvious bias noted, says, \u201cI would vote for Louis. It’s like, OK, are you going to close? Great, you can do that. Are you going pitch the eighth inning against this part of lineup that we want you to face? Great, you can do that. Can you do it again the next day in a different role? Great. Can you strike a guy out, righties and lefties? Great. He’s what you’re shooting for.\u201d<\/p>\n

Due to his mixed usage, and late start getting ninth-inning assignments with Hoffman handling the role at the beginning of the season, Varland is tied for 10th in the majors with 11 saves. Cleveland\u2019s Smith, the dominant righty from Abbotsford, B.C., leads at 21 with Tampa\u2019s Bryan Baker and San Diego\u2019s Miller next at 18.<\/p>\n

While Varland says \u201ceverybody in a bullpen wants to close games,\u201d he approaches his varied usage with \u201ca shut-up-and-pitch-when-you’re-told mentality.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAll the other stuff is kind of noise,\u201d he continues, \u201cso it\u2019s just doing what you’re told and believing in it. If you believe in it and you do it, then things should work out.\u201d<\/p>\n

He\u2019s done that since joining the Blue Jays and things very much have, with his handling of left-handed hitters making a drastic jump, from .254\/.290\/.426 a year ago to .200\/.257\/.246 so far. An improved changeup that he threw only five per cent of the time to lefty hitters in 2025 but is up to 16 per cent usage this season, \u201chas made a good difference,\u201d he says, adding \u201cI think that’s really stepped my game up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Unchanged is the insistence on a velo slap on his way out to the mound.<\/p>\n

The first time he tried one came during the COVID year of 2020, when the 15th round pick by the Twins in 2019 spent the summer training with no minor-league season.<\/p>\n

\u201cI used to do it when I was doing velo sessions, trying to chase velo. After COVID I didn’t do it,\u201d he said. \u201cIt’s supposed to spike some adrenaline, wake you up, get you kind of ready, I guess.\u201d<\/p>\n

At spring training last year, \u201cI started to do it again just as a joke. Then it turned out I liked it, so then we just kind of kept doing it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Justin Topa, Varland\u2019s teammate with the Twins last year who is now pitching at triple-A Buffalo in the Blue Jays system, recalls how Colby Suggs, Minnesota\u2019s bullpen coach at the time, \u201clet him have it one of the days, he pitched well and then it kind of stuck.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI’ve never been a big velo slap guy. If it works for some guys, it works for them,\u201d adds Topa. \u201cBut, Louis, I don’t know if he was superstitious after having it go well the first time, but he kept rolling with it and it definitely amps him up. It’s fun to see somebody get in that zone and go out there and dominate.\u201d<\/p>\n

There\u2019s an art to the practice, as Varland insists that the slappers really let it rip. The first attempt at it with the Blue Jays didn\u2019t go well as Andreopoulos \u201cdid a terrible job, so he got fired right away.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI wasn’t going to bring it back until (Johnson) was like, \u2018You want to keep doing it?\u2019 So I’m like, yeah, I might as well,\u201d adds Varland, who instructed Johnson to slap him as hard as he can, even though, \u201cI think he still holds back. I can’t break a rib doing it. That’d be a big problem. So, there’s kind of like a balance to that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Johnson sheepishly acknowledges that he doesn\u2019t give the slap a full go, and adds that \u201cyou try not to make it too direct \u2013 you want it to be fingers to the palm so it’s not full impact.\u201d But last year, if Varland had a rough outing, Ty France, who also came over from the Twins in that July 31 trade, \u201cwould come and blame me, like, \u2018You’re not hitting him hard enough, you’ve got to hit him harder.\u2019 Ty would stay on me to make sure that I did. He’s like, \u2018My guy is getting soft, you’ve got to go harder.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Schneider didn\u2019t notice the velo slap until Game 1 of the American League Division Series, when Varland came in with the bases loaded and two out and struck out Giancarlo Stanton to protect a 2-1 lead.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt fits him,\u201d says the manager. \u201cIt’s the life of a reliever where it kind of wakes you up a little bit. It’s not as crazy as the dude (Tyler) Phillips for Miami who slaps himself in the face. But relievers are just weird. I kind of like it actually. Graham has kind of mastered it, too, where he knows exactly like how down to go so he’s not hurt. It’s pretty funny that it’s Graham hitting Louis. They’re both like the most mild-mannered guys.\u201d<\/p>\n

Until it\u2019s time to take the ball, that is, when they partner up for one of the sport\u2019s more unique rituals.<\/p>\n

\u201cMore people should do it,\u201d says Varland, who enjoys the burst of energy he gets from the impact. \u201cIt could be a placebo, but that’s the idea behind it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TORONTO \u2013 Graham Johnson first noticed the two-handed back smack Louis Varland gets on his way out of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":632136,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[435],"tags":[49,48,462,82],"class_list":["post-730511","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-mlb","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/730511","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=730511"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/730511\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/632136"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=730511"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=730511"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=730511"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}