Closer stock watch: Varland, Soto rise while Janse...
Key takeaways
- We are well past the time for fantasy managers to notice Varland, who enters Tuesday with a sparkling 0.65 ERA (two earned runs in 25 appearances).
- Varland, 28, won four of 23 career starts for the Minnesota Twins during the 2022-24 seasons, posting a 5.18 ERA and a 1.40 WHIP.
- Some may have noticed that Hoffman, 33, saved a pair of recent wins, but only because Varland was unavailable for those games.
Why this matters: a sports story that could shift standings, legacies, or fan conversations.
Louis Varland has emerged as one of the top fantasy closers of 2026. Julian Avram/Icon Sportswire Eric Karabell May 26, 2026, 05:00 PM ETClose Eric Karabell is a senior writer for fantasy baseball, football and basketball at ESPN. Eric is a charter member of FSWA Hall of Fame and author of "The Best Philadelphia Sports Arguments".Follow on XMultiple Authors Email Print Open Extended Reactions. It seemed inevitable that Toronto Blue Jays RHP Jeff Hoffman, who served up 15 regular season home runs during the 2025 season and blew Game 7 of the World Series with another, would lose the closer role at some point this season. Some point came a mere few weeks into April, as RHP Louis Varland zoomed past Hoffman on the depth chart.
We are well past the time for fantasy managers to notice Varland, who enters Tuesday with a sparkling 0.65 ERA (two earned runs in 25 appearances). He is among the top five relief pitchers in fantasy points but is rostered in only 57.6% of ESPN standard leagues. By the way, he's on pace for 122 strikeouts, and myriad saves will come, too.
Varland, 28, won four of 23 career starts for the Minnesota Twins during the 2022-24 seasons, posting a 5.18 ERA and a 1.40 WHIP. He permitted a ghastly 27 home runs over 116 1/3 innings and the Twins moved him into the bullpen, where Varland threw harder, became a ground ball machine and clearly thrived. He delivered a 2.97 ERA last season (with 23 holds) and ranked 12th among qualified relief pitchers by averaging 98.1 mph with his fastball. Now he is a legitimate relief star, whiffing 36.7% of hitters, while permitting nary a home run.