Blue Jays All-Star closer has been 'nearly perfect' in breakout year originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The Toronto Blue Jays are hanging around in the American League Wild Card race.
As of Tuesday morning, they are 1.5 games behind the Cleveland Guardians for the third and final Wild Card spot.
To get there, the AL East club will need to play clean baseball the rest of the way. That means no blown saves.
Usually, that's not a problem for the Blue Jays, who have one of the best closers in the sport.
Bleacher Report's Kerry Miller wrote that Louis Varland is one of the top breakout performers of the year in the Majors.
"In [Bryan] Baker, [Jacob] Latz and Varland, what a year it has been for breakout closers in the American League," Miller wrote.
"Prior to this season, Varland had never saved a game in the majors or the minors, and he only got the job because Jeff Hoffman couldn't save anything through the first three weeks," Miller added. "He has been nearly perfect, though, going 31-for-32 in save chances with a minuscule 1.12 ERA."
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Varland was a first-time All-Star at this year's Midsummer Classic. He has struck out 31.5% of the batters he's faced in 2026, while allowing just 6.4 hits per nine innings.
If the Blue Jays manage to make the postseason, he's not someone an opposing club wants to face in the ninth inning or later.
The great news for Blue Jays fans? Varland will not become a free agent until after the 2030 season.
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