How a Blue Jays bullpen shake-up led to Louis Varland's AL Reliever of the Year season

Rarely, do things ever go to plan in Major League Baseball. The Toronto Blue Jays didn't plan on Louis Varland being their closer when they started the 2026 season. It was Jeff Hoffman who was being trusted to shut things down in the ninth inning, the same role he held throughout 2025. After a rough first month though, that plan changed.

Varland stepped in and less than seven months later, he was named the first American League Reliever of the Year. The bullpen shake-up that opened the door is a big part of how it happened.

By the third week of April, the Blue Jays were 10-14 and Hoffman had a 7.59 ERA in 12 games, with three blown saves that tied for the most in baseball. Manager John Schneider kept backing him and it would have been fair to believe in his thought process, had it not been for what happened just a few months before then.

Hoffman was dealing with the aftermath of giving up the game-tying home run in Game 7 of the World Series, and now he was walking batters and hitting them too. Three days later in Anaheim, it came to a head. Hoffman entered the ninth with a three-run lead against the Angels, recorded one out, and loaded the bases on a single and two hit batters.

Schneider went to Varland, who needed one pitch to get Nolan Schanuel to ground into a game-ending double play in a 4-2 win. It was the first save of Varland's career, and it set up the change that followed.

After an off-day, the Blue Jays announced on Apr. 24 that Hoffman was out as closer and that the club would share ninth-inning duties for the short term. "We feel it's best for him and us at this point," general manager Ross Atkins said, adding that he still believed in Hoffman as a weapon. Varland and Tyler Rogers were expected to get into the "closers role" mix, allowing Schneider to operate the ninth inning based on matchups.

It didn't stay a committee for long. Varland, who hadn't allowed a run in his first 12 outings of the year, picked up consecutive saves against Cleveland that weekend, and he took the job from there. Hoffman, for the record, finished his Blue Jays season with a 3.94 ERA and five saves in 51 appearances before being moved to the Twins.

Varland, on the other hand, went 5-6 with a 1.27 ERA and 1.00 WHIP. He recorded 35 saves and 97 strikeouts while giving up 23 walks in 78 innings over 71 appearances. That was good enough for a 3.6 bWAR.

His 35 saves tied for fifth in baseball, and he blew just two chances. No pitcher with at least 50 innings had a lower ERA. Tampa Bay's Bryan Baker, the next best, was at 1.44. Baker and Cleveland's Cade Smith each had six more saves than Varland, with 41 apiece, but it wasn't enough to overcome the gap in run prevention.

Louis Varland didn't run away with the award, but the voters made the right decision for AL Reliever of the Year

Varland received 16 of the 30 first-place votes and finished with 146 points, ahead of Smith (seven first-place votes, 133 points) and Baker (six first-place votes, 111 points). Smith was the only reliever named on all 30 ballots, while Varland was on 27, and the final first-place vote went to Josh Hader.

It is the first new award the BBWAA has introduced since 1983, and it will be given annually to the top pitcher in each league whose work comes primarily out of the bullpen. San Diego's Mason Miller was the unanimous NL winner.

It is the latest step in a quick rise to stardom in Toronto for Varland. The Blue Jays acquired Varland from the Minnesota Twins at the 2025 trade deadline, along with first baseman Ty France, in exchange for Alan Roden and Kendry Rojas. He went on to make 15 appearances in the 2025 postseason, the most in a single postseason in MLB history, as the Blue Jays went to Game 7 of the World Series.

The Blue Jays didn't finish the 2026 season where they wanted to, not by a long shot, but one of the better outcomes of the year was the decision to move Varland into the closer. Giving him the ball in the ninth inning turned out to be one of the best things that happened to them. The Blue Jays still have him under team control for four more seasons, so the best closer in the American League will be anchoring their bullpen again in 2027.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow