Blue Jays notebook: Louis Varland impresses at back of bullpen

TORONTO — The Blue Jays have been seeking answers in their bullpen for most of the season, but after this weekend they may be a little closer to finding some solutions.

Not only did Louis Varland save Saturday’s game with a 30-pitch effort that included a few tense moments, he came back less than 24 hours later for another save on Sunday. The 30-pitch outing was the longest of Varland’s Blue Jays career, but Schneider spoke with the former starter Sunday morning and felt confident going back to him right away.

“Louis, he wants the ball,” Schneider said. “And he’s been here long enough and I’ve pitched him enough to understand when he’s good and when he needs a blow. … He just loves to pitch.”

Notably, Jeff Hoffman rebounded from some recent struggles with a scoreless eighth inning Sunday, working around a walk to preserve the Blue Jays’ lead. That led to Varland, who topped out a 99.3 m.p.h. in the 4-2 win.

“His stuff’s electric and just he’s a competitor,” starter Patrick Corbin said. “He’s fun to watch.”

If a save chance arises Monday, the Blue Jays will surely turn to someone like Hoffman, Tyler Rogers or Braydon Fisher while Varland rests. But by earning the first three saves of his career this week, Varland certainly looked like he belonged.

“With this type of stuff, he easily could be a closer for a long time,” Corbin said. “When you have guys like that at the back of the line it makes it really hard on the other team.”

At a time that the Blue Jays are missing key some offensive players, they’re less likely to win by wide margins. Under those circumstances, these late-game bullpen performances are much needed.

Jose Berríos will leave it up to the Blue Jays to determine when he makes his 2026 season debut, but he’s optimistic that he’s getting close — potentially very close — to big-league readiness.

“Physically, I’ve been feeling great — like normal,” he told Sportsnet within the Blue Jays’ clubhouse Sunday morning.

Berríos will travel to Scranton, Penn., ahead of his Tuesday start for the Blue Jays’ triple-A affiliate. He’s slated to throw 70-75 pitches and if all goes well that could be the final rehab start he needs.

“I don’t decide that, but I just feel great,” he said. “I don’t (decide) if it’s one or two more down at triple-A and then come here. They will decide that.”

When he first learned in March that he had a stress fracture in his right pitching elbow, the right-hander was surprised and concerned. But after a brief rest period, he’s worked his way back to the point that he’s becoming a viable rotation option for the Blue Jays.

“It was different for me,” said Berríos, who had never even gone on the injured list until late last year. “It was something (where) I felt sad or lost, but then I started to get used to it and just kept focused on the goal and just that’s what I’ve been doing so far. Just working out and trying to get back.”

Speaking at Rogers Centre Friday afternoon, Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins said the most likely way to resolve starting pitching surplus would be to move a starter to the bullpen temporarily. Trey Yesavage’s return already pushed Eric Lauer there.

While Berríos finishes his rehab work, the performances and health of Corbin and Max Scherzer will be worth watching closely. But as the cliche goes, having more starters than rotation spots would certainly be a good problem to have.

A big weekend for Piñango

Yohendrick Piñango was watching the Lakers game Friday when he got the call from Casey Candaele. The Bisons manager pretended he wanted to talk about the nuances of Piñango’s baserunning before sharing the news: the 23-year-old was heading to the majors for his big-league debut.

“I’m really happy,” a smiling Piñango said via interpreter Hector Lebron. “I wasn’t expecting this call.”

Less than 48 hours later, Piñango had also recorded his first big-league hit, a single to centre field in the fourth inning of Sunday’s game against the Guardians that Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was quick to hand over to the authenticator.

Complete effort from Okamoto

On a weekend in which Kazuma Okamoto hit two home runs into the 200 level in centre field, he also made a series of impressive defensive plays, supporting the Blue Jays’ pitching staff through some closely contested games.

The home runs are not a surprise for a player who hit 30 or more six different times in Japan, but Okamoto’s defence was considered more of an unknown when he joined the Blue Jays. So far, he’s showing signs of adapting to the demands of MLB on both sides of the ball.

“It’s pretty impressive,” said manager John Schneider.

“I kind of want to have more games like today,” Okamoto added Saturday through interpreter Yusuke Oshima.