The Minnesota Twins have named Double-A Wichita right-handed pitcher Louie Varland and Triple-A St. Paul infielder Spencer Steer as the Twins minor league Pitcher and Player of the Week. The Twins are lucky to have a number of their minor leaguers knocking on the Target Field door.
Louie Varland was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 15th round of the 2019 MLB June Amateur Draft from Concordia University (St. Paul, MN). Varland, a St. Paul native signed for a $115,000 signing bonus.
Last season Varland was 10-4 with a nifty 2.10 ERA in 20 games and 103 innings. Varland gave up just 82 hits and struck out 142 and posted a 1.087 WHIP. The 6’1″ right-hander was rewarded by the Minnesota Twins by being named their Minor League Pitcher of the Year in 2021 after splitting time between Fort Myers and and Cedar Rapids. This past week Varland, 24, made two starts (6/4 vs. Frisco and 6/10 at Arkansas) for the Wind Surge, going 1-0, 1.64 ERA (11.0 IP, 2 ER) with eight hits allowed, two walks and 18 strikeouts. In 2022 Varland is 5-1 with a SO/9 ration of 10.7 and a 1.200 WHIP. Looks like he will be able to come home to pitch soon.
Louie Varland makes himself next Twins pitching prospect to watch out for (Patrick Reusse)
Spencer Steer was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 3rd round of the 2019 MLB June Amateur Draft from University of Oregon (Eugene, OR) as a shortstop. Signing bonus was $575,000.
The 24 year old California native is wasting no time climbing the Twins minor league ladder and was promoted to the AAA St. Paul Saints on May 23. This week Steer played in five games for the Saints, hitting .409 (9-for-22) with one double, six home runs, 11 RBI, three walks, a .519
on-base percentage, 1.273 slugging percentage and a 1.791 OPS. He hit three home runs last Sunday at Iowa. The Saints have had him playing 2B, 3B and some shortstop.