Louis Varland's One-Pitch Wonder

The Blue Jays have something special in Louis Varland. The 28-year-old has been, almost certainly, the AL's best reliever so far in 2026. Of the 49 AL arms with at least 10 innings pitched in relief this season, Varland is one of just two who have yet to allow an earned run, and one of just nine who have yet to give up a barrelled ball. His 19 strikeouts rank second, trailing only his teammate Jeff Hoffman, while his 58.3% groundball rate is tied for third (min. 10 IP). He pitches with equal parts power and precision, leading with a fastball that sits 98 (and feels even faster thanks to his elite extension) and mixing in four more weapons with diverse shapes, all of which have a case to be called plus pitches. 

Today, however, I only want to talk about one pitch. Literally one pitch: The final pitch from yesterday's 4-2 win against the Angels.

Late last night, the Blue Jays found themselves three outs away from sealing their first series victory since they swept the Athletics in March. Despite all his struggles this year, Hoffman took the ball for the bottom of the ninth, looking for his second save in as many days. Instead, a single, back-to-back hit-by-pitches, and another single put the winning run on first base. After 11 minutes, 18 pitches, and just one out, Hoffman's day was done. That's when John Schneider called on Varland. 

A week earlier, Varland replaced Hoffman with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth against the Brewers. At the time, it was the highest-pressure entrance of his career, according to FanGraphs' leverage index. Not anymore. Yesterday, Varland came on with one out instead of two and the chance to secure a win, not just maintain a tie. The leverage index when he entered against the Brewers was 6.39. Last night, it was 7.37. Keep in mind, an average situation has a leverage index of 1.0. Anything over 2.0 is considered high. 

With the stakes dialled up to 11, Varland took the mound. The criteria for success were clear. The runner on third didn’t matter, but Varland needed to record two outs before any more Angels made it across the plate.

It only took him one pitch to pull it off.

Facing the lefty-batting Nolan Schanuel, Varland delivered a changeup. It was the second time all season he started an at-bat with his change. But the unusual decision paid off. Varland located his offering perfectly. It was a strike, so Schanuel swung, but it wasn't a pitch he could punish. It just barely grazed the lower outside corner of the zone, and Schanuel sent it bouncing to Ernie Clement at second base. Here's what happened next:

Clement to Andrés Giménez for one. Easy. The second out was going to be much closer, but Giménez sent a laser into Vladimir Guerrero Jr.'s glove. A replay review confirmed what we already knew. The game was over. The Blue Jays had won. And Varland only needed one pitch. 

One-pitch saves are rare. Varland's was the first of the season, and it very well could be the last. There was only one in 2025. There were four the year before, but once again, only one in 2023. Since saves became an official stat in 1969, one-pitch saves make up roughly one-third of one percent of all saves. 

The last Blue Jay to record a one-pitch save was Casey Janssen in 2014. Indeed, Janssen is responsible for two of the eight one-pitch saves in team history. He's one of 30 pitchers to have had multiple one-pitch saves in his career. (Trevor Hoffman tops that list with five one-pitch saves to his name.) Here is the complete list of Toronto Blue Jays one-pitch saves: 

Of course, Varland's effort wasn't merely a one-pitch save. It was a one-pitch, two-out save. No Blue Jays pitcher had ever done that before. It was also a one-pitch, two-out, bases-loaded save – only the eighth such save in recorded major league history. 

If you still aren't impressed, you can think of it like this. A one-pitch save is about as rare as a no-hitter. A one-pitch, two-out save is about as rare as a perfect game. A one-pitch, two-out, bases-loaded save is about as rare as an unassisted triple play. 

The cherry on top is that this was the first save of Varland's professional career. He joins Chris Holt as the second-ever pitcher to earn his first MLB save in such dramatic fashion, and even Holt had previously saved a professional game in the independent Frontier League. The last time Varland recorded a save was his sophomore year of college. 

With a single pitch on Tuesday night, Louis Varland made personal history, team history, and professional baseball history. And the best part is, he's only just getting started.