Varland may be a candidate for a promotion from Triple-A St. Paul to fill the opening in the Twins rotation Wednesday at Tampa Bay, Do-Hyoung Park of MLB.com reports.
The Twins already have a five-man rotation in place, but manager Rocco Baldelli is presumably keen on building in an extra day of rest for the team's starters while Minnesota is in the midst of a stretch of 13 games in 13 days. While Varland should eventually settle into a bullpen role for Minnesota in September, the Twins' decision not to call him up Sunday when the active roster expanded to 28 men suggests he's being ticketed for a start Wednesday. Varland owns a 1.93 ERA, 1.01 WHIP and 39:13 K:BB in 32.2 innings over his last six outings for St. Paul but has largely struggled during his time in the big leagues with a 4.91 ERA across 124.2 career innings.