![]() ![]() If he can sharpen his command of the fastball, keep the slider as tight as it has looked recently, and throw both with conviction to both lefties and righties, though, that potential is there. Varland hasn’t yet shown enough to be thought of as a budding star of the relief corps. It’s not hard to find one with a good slider. It’s not hard to find a reliever who throws in the mid-90s anymore. What jumps out most, though, is the biting slider that he’s seemed to command with increasing consistency in each outing. Roster math and the rules always carry more weight than some fans would prefer, too, and the fact that Varland would have been lost if he hadn’t earned a place on the 26-man roster right away afforded him a bit of grace. Velocity matters, and the fact that Varland has consistently pushed his heater up to 95 and 96 miles per hour (touching 97 in his outing Thursday) has helped nudge him forward in the competition for a bullpen job. ![]() On the contrary, he’s been given increasingly valuable chances to prove himself, and as camp has progressed, so has the Rule 5 pick and erstwhile Dodgers prospect. To the team’s credit, the Brewers didn’t give up on Varland, or even deprioritize him, after a rocky start in the Cactus League. The spring training battles have largely been decided, and the pitching staff has taken shape. Of the four roster spots open for pitchers beyond the nine men we’ve already discussed in our pitching previews, three are pretty much sewn up. Now, however, most of that uncertainty has been eliminated. For the final three spots, there seemed to be as many as five or six credible candidates. A month ago, nothing was certain when it came to the lower half of the bullpen hierarchy for the Brewers. ![]()
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