During the All-Star Game held this past summer in Philadelphia, two standout pitchers in the American League, Louis Varland and Cade Smith, met in the clubhouse and engaged in a conversation typically reserved for closers. Varland, a right-handed pitcher for the Toronto Blue Jays, expressed admiration for his Cleveland Guardians counterpart, describing him as “a true competitor” who “looks like a bulldog out there.”
Smith, who observed Varland's journey frequently while the latter transitioned between starting and relieving for the Minnesota Twins prior to his acquisition by the Blue Jays in 2025, noted that Varland’s recent emergence as a dominant reliever has been impressive. He pointed out that Varland's ability to command the strike zone, combined with his exceptional arsenal of five pitches, gives him a significant advantage, especially when it comes to differing approaches to right-handed and left-handed hitters.
The mutual respect shared by Varland and Smith ultimately led to their positions as the top two candidates for the inaugural American League Reliever of the Year award, which Varland narrowly won over Smith. In the Baseball Writers’ Association of America (BBWAA) voting results, Varland received 16 first-place votes and a total of 146 points, while Smith accumulated seven first-place votes and finished with 133 points. Bryan Baker of the Tampa Bay Rays, who previously played in the Blue Jays' farm system, secured six first-place votes and a total of 111 points.
In addition to Varland's accolade, another noteworthy achievement came from Blue Jays ace Dylan Cease, who finished second in the AL Cy Young Award voting, trailing behind unanimous winner Cam Schlittler of the New York Yankees.
After being traded at the 2025 deadline in exchange for outfielder Alan Roden and left-handed pitcher Kendry Rojas, Varland quickly became a reliable option for Blue Jays manager John Schneider. He appeared in 15 of the team's 18 postseason games, showcasing his value in high-pressure situations. Throughout the 2026 season, Varland stepped into the closer role after Jeff Hoffman struggled early in the year, going on to collect 35 saves. He posted an impressive 1.27 ERA across 78 innings, striking out 97 batters over the course of 71 games.
Varland attributed part of his success to shifting his focus away from starting to exclusively relieving, allowing him to challenge hitters right from the outset of games rather than “playing the cat and mouse game and saving a pitch for later.” This adjustment in mindset has been fundamental in his development as a closer.
A key aspect of Varland's breakout performance has been a modification to his changeup, recommended by Blue Jays pitching coach Graham Johnson. This adjustment has turned the pitch into an effective weapon against left-handed hitters, as Varland utilized it 31 percent of the time against them—a notable increase of 20 percent compared to the 2025 season. As a result, he limited left-handed batters to a mere .123 average and .140 slugging percentage.
Upon joining the Blue Jays, Johnson suggested a grip change for Varland's changeup to a one-seam variation with a seam-shift, enhancing its movement. Varland explained, “I had a whole off-season with it and after having that, I had the confidence and the feel for it, and I brought that into spring training and then into the season.” He described the adjusted changeup as the pitch he had been seeking for the past couple of years, finally mastering it in 2026, which proved beneficial in his performance.
