Neal: Twins pitcher Louie Varland enjoys the rush of relief. Let’s give him that.

FORT MYERS, FLA. - Being a starting pitcher, facing hitters multiple times a game, is like being in a chess match. Often the challenge is to figure out different ways to achieve the same result.

It’s different for a reliever facing a hitter only once, usually in the late innings. There’s no reason to hold anything back.

Louie Varland sees another difference: the adrenaline rush when a pitcher runs in from the bullpen to take the ball.

“Absolutely,” Varland said. “It’s awesome. It’s super-hype. It kind of reminds me about wrestling. Getting your name announced and running out on the mat and just doing it. It’s fun.”

Varland, a former North St. Paul Polar, was 25-11 as a wrestler during his freshman year while wrestling at 106 pounds. He reached the 152-pound class by his senior year. He’s listed at 205 pounds now.

As someone who has experience putting on 100 pounds in a matter of years, Louie looks like he’s done it the right way. And the discipline he developed as a wrestler has served him well. He became the fourth Concordia (St. Paul) product to reach the majors in 2022. His brother, Gus, became the fifth in 2023.

Neither the Twins nor Varland has revealed how he will be used this season. But if spring training appearances are an indicator, Varland will be grappling with hitters after running to the mound from the bullpen.

He has made four one-inning outings in spring training games, giving up three hits while striking out four. He threw fewer than 10 pitches in two of those outings. Manager Rocco Baldelli has said he doesn’t recall Varland sneaking to the back fields to face extra hitters.

There’s still time to stretch Varland out so he can make it one time through the batting order but not enough to prepare him to start the season in a rotation. And if he’s going to start or compete for a rotation spot, you would want him to face more batters.

“I’ll be ready for any role,” Varland, 27, said before a Thursday workout at the Lee Health Sports Complex. “And I think that’s a blessing. I think that helps out the team, wherever they need me. Plug and play. Go from there.”

Perhaps Varland could develop into a solid starter. I would like to see him in a relief role — which he sounds like he’s embracing.

His fastball has averaged 95.4 miles per hour as a major leaguer. But it ticks up to 97 and above when he comes in for short stints. We saw a glimpse of that in the 2023 postseason when he registered two outs in two appearances against the Blue Jays. He doesn’t have to pace himself to go deeper into games the way he would as a starter, and a hotter fastball makes his other pitches more effective.

The Twins already have a good bullpen. The group, led by closer Jhoan Duran, is projected to be one of the best in baseball this season. Varland makes it even deeper and better equipped to withstand slumps or injuries.

A deeper bullpen helps the Twins push more leads through six innings over the goal line and into the win column. Baldelli has discussed how effective Louie the reliever could be. It’s time to see it.

A career as a reliever can be lucrative. Varland once remarked that pay is one reason not to give up starting. According to Spotrac, 18 relievers are scheduled to earn a base salary of at least $10 million in 2025.

Not all of them are closers. And not all of them are employed by the filthy-rich Mets or the kings of the deferred contracts, the Dodgers. Whether Varland could perform well enough to one day get that type of deal from the Twins is another thing.

But first, let’s see the wrestler from North St. Paul come running in from the bullpen in the late innings while his new walkout song, “Free Bird,” by MOONLIGHT, plays over the Target Field sound system.