Varland dodges another comebacker on rehab assignment

MILWAUKEE -- As long as he’d been pitching, Gus Varland never had to dodge a comebacker at his face. Then he got two in the span of three pitches.

“Unbelievable,” said MLB Pipeline’s No. 25 Brewers prospect. “What are the odds?”

Pretty slim, but that’s baseball. Varland, the Rule 5 Draft pick who won a spot on the Brewers’ Opening Day roster with a series of terrific performances in Spring Training, suffered a bruised right hand when Manny Machado’s 105.1 mph comebacker gave him a scare on April 15 in San Diego. It was enough to land Varland on the 15-day injured list, and when he went to High-A Wisconsin on April 27 to begin a rehab assignment, the first batter he faced -- Marlins prospect Jacob Berry, the sixth overall pick in last year’s Draft -- hit Varland’s second pitch right back at the mound.

Varland deflected it with his left hand this time, which thankfully was protected by his glove.

“It was crazy,” Varland said. “There was a little shock to it. It didn’t bruise at all. It didn’t feel good, but I got the out. … I don’t know what it is. We’re all confused. It’s tough, because the last thing you want to have happen is that, especially on back-to-back batters. You battle through it.”

The rest of that outing wasn’t great -- Varland was charged with three earned runs on three hits and a walk without getting another out -- and he conceded that the shock was “in the back of my head” for the rest of the appearance. Varland pitched again on Saturday and fared much better, working 1 2/3 innings with a triple but allowing no runs and no walks.

Instead of rejoining the Brewers, Varland’s rehab assignment will continue with Triple-A Nashville. He had a long conversation about it with pitching coaches Chris Hook and Jim Henderson and concurs that some extra time in the Minor Leagues will be helpful. Even though he was having success in the Majors, the various readings on his pitches were not as sharp as they were early in Spring Training.

Varland, remember, has never thrown a Triple-A pitch.

“He’s been fighting for his life for eight weeks, right?” Brewers GM Matt Arnold said. “He’s an unbelievable teammate, maybe one of the best you’ll be around, brings incredible energy here. This just gives him an opportunity to reset a little bit.”

Varland was set to join the Sounds for an open-ended stay beginning Tuesday in St. Paul, Minn., -- fortuitous scheduling since his younger brother, Louie, pitches for that Twins affiliate. It’s not the first time they have squared off professionally; last year, when Louie was in Double-A with the Twins and Varland was in the Dodgers' system, they started against each other in May, then each picked up a victory as their teams split a doubleheader in June.

Less than a year later, Gus was a big leaguer. Was that a little strange to process when he showed up in Appleton, Wis., to rehab with the Timber Rattlers?

“I’m the same guy no matter where I am,” Varland said. “I didn’t try to be better or bigger than anyone else. I try to treat everyone equal.”

He did fulfill one big league obligation by buying a meal for the clubhouse. Varland remembers that the dinners were pretty good in A-ball, but the breakfasts “can be tough,” so he brought in Chick-fil-A on Saturday morning.

“Everybody loves a little Chick-fil-A breakfast,” Varland said.

Here’s more from around the Minors:

Triple-A Nashville
Prospects get all the hype, but a couple of veterans have been leading the way for the Sounds. Keston Hiura went into Sunday leading Milwaukee's system with nine home runs, 23 RBIs, a .700 slugging percentage, a 1.082 OPS and 56 total bases, including one on a walk-off single Saturday night. Hiura’s .325 average was second in the system behind teammate Eddy Alvarez’s .348. Hiura entered Saturday’s game in place of Skye Bolt, who injured his left quad on one of his three hits and is expected to miss 2-3 weeks.

Double-A Biloxi
Jackson Chourio (Brewers' No. 1 prospect, overall No. 6) was presented with his 2022 Rawlings Gold Glove Award prior to the Shuckers’ game on Sunday, an honor modeled after the iconic award given to MLB’s top defensive players. The 19-year-old prospect was one of three outfielders to receive the award throughout the Minor Leagues.

High-A Wisconsin
Eric Brown Jr. (Brewers' No. 8 prospect) has not played since being struck in the face by a pitch on Wednesday. He suffered a laceration and swelling but was fortunate to avoid a serious injury, according to Brewers vice president of player operations and baseball administration Tom Flanagan. Brown was back to baseball activity as of Sunday, and is expected to resume game action later this week at Peoria.

Single-A Carolina
It’s been a step-by-step progression for top Brewers pitching prospect Jacob Misiorowski (No. 6 in Milwaukee's system), who has thrown 12, 25 and 41 pitches in his three starts so far while striking out eight of the first 17 batters he’s faced. That cautious build-up is according to plan for Misiorowski, who was Milwaukee’s second-round Draft pick last year.