Extra, extra, read all about it, the Toronto Blue Jays have tied up the World Series. After a marathon Game 3, the Blue Jays dispatched the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-2 on Tuesday evening. Shane Bieber won the pitching match against Shohei Ohtani, including striking him out twice when the Dodgers pitcher walked up to the home plate.
Bieber, recovering from Tommy John surgery and then pitching as well as he has in the playoffs, is undoubtedly a big story. However, he isn’t the only pitcher with a fascinating tale to tell this postseason.
After winning Game 4 in Los Angeles, manager John Schneider spoke with the media about the game. He also summed up the play of Louis Varland.
John Schneider on Louis Varland
GettyJohn Schneider Sums Up Louis Varland
Schneider is a big fan of Varland. In Game 4, Varland pitched all of the ninth inning. In his appearance, he allowed one run, struck out a batter, and walked another.
Schneider summed him up as a “different animal.”
“Louis has been tremendous,” Schneider said after the game on October 28. “He’s kind of a different animal, you know what I mean? It’s not normal to put a guy in as much as I have and have his stuff be consistent.”
“He’s been nothing short of amazing. It’s not easy to do what he’s doing, pitching this much and in high leverage, but I trust the hell out of him.”
Varland is on the verge of a record. Having pitched in 13 of 15 Blue Jays postseason games, he is one appearance shy of tying the record of 14 postseason appearances on the mound. Brandon Morrow did it with the Dodgers in 2017, and Paul Assenmacher did it in 1997, according to MLB.com.
Schneider Really Wanted Varland at the Trade Deadline
GettyJohn Schneider & Louis Varland
Schneider also spoke about having his eye on Varland at the trade deadline and making him a target.
“I was talking to Ross at the deadline, he was one guy that I really wanted to acquire, you know what I mean?” Schneider revealed. “There was a lot of big arms out there, big available arms, and the combination of his stuff and just knowing his personality a little bit from David Popkins in Minnesota, it was really intriguing to get him.”
At the time of the trade, General Manager Ross Atkins spoke about what Varland brings to the plate.
“Someone that has that much control isn’t an obvious target, so we were very aggressive in trying to acquire him,” Atkins said when the trade took place in August. “It’s not the traditional trade. He has been very effective this year as a reliever, has as good of a fastball as you can find and as good of a curveball as you can find with a very effective cutter…can sink it, he’s extremely aggressive, he’s coming after you, and that’s extremely attractive to us.”
“He immediately impacts our bullpen in a significant way.”
And impact the Blue Jays’ bullpen is precisely what he has done.
After being acquired by the team, he played in 23 games. In those games, he posted a 1.39 WHIP, 28 strikeouts, and nine walks, allowing 24 hits and three home runs in 23 2/3 innings.
During the postseason, he has pitched 14 innings, earning 16 strikeouts and a 1.14 WHIP.
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