Louis Varland is a finalist for the American League Reliever of the Year Award, giving the Toronto Blue Jays a chance at a franchise first when the winner is announced on November 11. Varland posted a 1.27 earned run average with 97 strikeouts over 78.0 innings in 2026, collected 35 saves, and would be the first pitcher in Blue Jays history to win the honour.
The other finalists are Bryan Baker of the Tampa Bay Rays and Canadian right hander Cade Smith of the Cleveland Guardians. The finalists were announced by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America in a broadcast on MLB Network, on the same day Dylan Cease was named a finalist for the AL Cy Young Award.
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From setup man to the ninth inning
Varland, 28, arrived in Toronto in a 2025 trade deadline deal from the Minnesota Twins, and he was expected to work as a setup man. Instead, he took over the closer’s role near the end of April and never gave it back. He finished 5-6 in 71 games, all out of the bullpen, with 35 saves in 37 opportunities, a 1.00 WHIP and a .196 batting average against, according to the season lines reported by Yardbarker and Heavy.
Those numbers describe more than a good ninth inning arm. A 1.27 ERA was the lowest mark among qualified relievers, and 97 strikeouts in 78 innings gave Toronto a closer who could miss bats when a game narrowed to one swing. Varland was named to the All-Star team alongside Cease and second baseman Ernie Clement, one of three Blue Jays honoured that way in 2026.
The role itself kept changing, and that is part of the case. Toronto used Varland for the highest leverage spot in a game, whether that spot arrived in the eighth inning against the heart of an order or in the ninth with a one run lead. Saves reward the final three outs. Leverage rewards the hardest three outs. Varland collected both, and voters now have to decide how much each should count in a brand new award, voted on for the first time in 2026.
“I would vote for Louis. It’s like, OK, are you going to close? Great, you can do that. Are you going pitch the eighth inning against this part of lineup that we want you to face? Great, you can do that.”
Blue Jays manager John Schneider made that case in comments reported by Sportsnet, arguing that the most valuable reliever is the one a team trusts with its toughest assignment, in whatever inning that assignment appears.
The Canadian standing across the ballot
There is a Canadian thread running through this final three. Cade Smith, from the Guardians, is a Canadian right hander who finished with 41 saves and a 1.95 ERA across 74 innings, according to Rotoworld’s summary of the finalists. Baker, a former Blue Jays pitcher now with Tampa Bay, also finished with 41 saves. On saves alone, Varland trails both men. On run prevention and strikeouts, he leads the group, and that split is the whole debate in one line.
Toronto fans have seen this movie in the other award race this week. The Blue Jays had five Gold Glove finalists and won none of them when those winners were announced on Sunday, November 1. Cease’s Cy Young candidacy, covered on iimiTV earlier this week, gives the club a second headline finalist. Varland’s case is different in one important way. Jays Centre’s assessment of the voting put Varland in a stronger position than Cease, noting that he outperformed Baker and Smith in almost every category outside saves.
History is on the table either way. No Blue Jays pitcher has ever won this honour, in part because the award itself is new, and the franchise list of Cy Young winners shows how rarely Toronto arms finish first in league voting. Pat Hentgen won in 1996, Roger Clemens won in 1997 and 1998, Roy Halladay won in 2003 and Robbie Ray won in 2021. A Varland win on November 11 would add a relief chapter to a list built entirely by starters.
What a win would say about the bullpen build
Awards are individual, but this one would also validate a front office decision. Toronto acquired Varland as bullpen depth at a deadline, watched an incumbent closer struggle the following April, and handed the ninth inning to a 28 year old with no long track record in the role. That gamble produced 35 saves, an All-Star selection and, by leverage measures reported by Sportsnet, the most trusted high leverage arm on the staff.
It would also set the terms for next spring. A reliever of the year winner does not return to a setup job, and Toronto’s bullpen planning for 2027 will start with Varland at the end of games and work backward from there. Even a second or third place finish changes his standing. Finalists get remembered differently from very good relievers, and arbitration and roster decisions tend to follow that memory.
The winners of the AL Reliever of the Year and AL Cy Young awards will be announced on Wednesday, November 11. For now, Toronto has two pitchers in two final threes, and the reliever who was never supposed to close has the cleaner path to a first in franchise history.
