Whether he and the Twins are ready to say so out loud or not, Louis Varland is now a reliever, in full. He was the (count 'em) fifth pitcher into the fray in Tuesday afternoon's spring training contest with the Yankees, working a clean sixth inning and striking out two. That's not bad news, though, because as Varland has flipped that switch, he also appears to have revved up his curveball into the kind of out pitch every dominant high-leverage reliever needs.
Varland threw four knuckle-curves Tuesday, and all of them met the following criteria:
-
86 mph or faster (specifically, 86.6 or better, in this case)
-
Between 2 and 6 inches of glove-side horizontal movement
-
Between -4 and -8 inches of induced vertical break
For those who don't intimately know the context of pitch movement data, that's a very hard curveball, with a small amount of movement away from a same-handed batter and a roughly medium amount of vertical depth. On video, it looks like a very sharp pitch, especially because of the speed on it. The league only threw a total of 330 curveballs that met those criteria last season. Varland himself threw nine of those, though that was just 6.4% of the 140 total curves he threw while in the majors. Curves like the ones Varland threw Tuesday are outlier pitches—even within the arsenals of most of the pitchers who throw them.
Four pitchers did meet those criteria on over 10% of their curves last season, though:
-
Brendon Little, LHP, Blue Jays - 28.1%
-
Trevor Megill, RHP, Brewers - 20.5%
-
Ben Brown, RHP, Cubs - 11.9%
-
Jhoan Durán, RHP, Twins - 10.2%
Ohp. Hey! We know him!
If you're a Caretaker, scroll down for the rest of your exclusive content! And if you're not, maybe consider becoming a Caretaker? The best reason is it just feels good to support something you love, and you want it to be there for the next generation.
Plus, there are many other benefits, like a free Winter Meltdown ticket and early access for guests, special callouts on the site, and lots more inside or in-depth content like this. So please consider joining our little club. The money goes to a site you love, to support coverage you love, and to writers you value. Thank you so much.
Become a Caretaker
We love providing this level of deep-dive coverage, but it's expensive - too expensive to be paid for just by internet ads. So, we reserve the rest of this story for the Caretakers that make this kind of coverage possible.
It may be time for you to become a Caretaker. You'll love it. You'll get more meaty stories like this, plus perks like Winter Meltdown tickets and other special recognition. And you can join for as little as $4/month. You can read all about it and sign up here.
Become a Caretaker
The rest of this deep dive content is only available to Twins Daily's Caretakers. Our Caretakers take care of the site, and in return, we take care of them. That includes us investing in deeper dive stories, free Winter Meltdown tickets, acknowledgment in the forums, and other perks.
If you visit Twins Daily often, consider joining our Caretakers. We would love to have you join our little club, and you'll love being a part of it, too, and not just for the perks. Just click here to get started.
Become a Caretaker
We have arrived at the point of the content where things get a little meatier, but that content is reserved for Twins Daily Caretaker’s eyes only. Creating deep-dive stories like this is too expensive to be supported by ads alone, so we limit it to those Caretakers who support the site.
Fear not: You, too, can become a Caretaker for as low as $4/month. In addition to reading more in-depth stories like this, you get free Twins Daily publications, Winter Meltdown tickets, and other special recognition. Just start here.
Become a Caretaker
Only Caretakers get to read this whole story because they support the extra expense that stories like this cost. They also get:
- Exclusive deep-dive content on the Twins like this all year
- A free Winter Meltdown ticket
- Recognition in their comments on Twins Daily
But best of all, they know they're supporting a community and coverage for the next generation of Twins fans. Join us now by becoming a Caretaker.
Become a Caretaker
.png.ece22acd0767e77d3586b449c81f160e.png){kind=icon}
6
1
Recommended Comments
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now