PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. — The name may look different, but Louis Varland’s electric stuff is similar to before.

Even though officially he’ll be named Louis on scoreboards and broadcasts alike, Louie Varland still prefers to be known as Louie.

Feeling as if his family would appreciate the gesture, the Twins pitcher elected to use his real name this season, which is pronounced similar to the city of St. Louis. Despite using his proper name, Louie is simply Louie — although his brother and fellow major-leaguer Gus took it a step further and has teased Louie, calling him “Corporate Lou” for using his real name.

But there’s been enough hullabaloo in the first few weeks of camp about the change for Varland to reconsider making it in the first place.

“It’s not like I’m changing my name,” Varland said. “It’s my real name and I decided just to do it because maybe my mom and grandparents would like it because I’m named after my uncle. … Call me Louie. On the scoreboard it will say Louis. That’s it. Plain and simple. Everybody’s freaking out about this for no reason.”

While you might have been confused by the official name change, Varland’s power arm remains steady as ever. It’s an especially intriguing option if the Twins finally decide to use him out of the bullpen on a full-time basis.

Varland topped 98 mph on the radar gun in a one-inning appearance in relief on Saturday and hit 89.7 mph with his cutter. He needed only eight pitches to retire the side in order.

Varland began the 2024 season in the starting rotation because the Twins were short-handed on starters before they ultimately shifted him to the bullpen. Manager Rocco Baldelli hinted as early as January that Varland could be a reliever this season, but wanted to wait to see if he’d be needed in the rotation again before committing.

Varland has an idea what role the Twins want him to pitch in this season, but Baldelli has asked him to refrain from saying it. For now, Varland is preparing for whatever the Twins ask. Varland spent his offseason focused on execution and throwing it where he wants, something he thinks he could have done better in the past.

Varland enjoys pitching in relief and loves how he managed to fire up teammates late in the season with his bulldog mentality and dugout dog barking. Though he has a 6.44 ERA in 29 1/3 relief innings, Varland has overall been very good aside from two blowup outings in which he surrendered 14 of the 21 earned runs he’s ever yielded as a reliever.

“It’s a cool feeling, especially when the dude that gets fired up is (Byron Buxton),” Varland said. “I’ve found some success, some failures. But it’s been fun. It’s fun coming out of the pen.”

Veteran reliever aims for career goal

He’s no longer the hard-throwing pitcher who debuted with the Seattle Mariners in 2012. But what he’s lost in velocity, Erasmo Ramírez thinks he’s made up in command and perspective.

As he continues his quest to reach 10 years of major-league service time, Ramírez understands patience is required.

Ramírez signed a minor-league contract with the Twins on Feb. 15 and is likely to start the season at Triple-A St. Paul, several rungs down in a stacked bullpen hierarchy. He knows that to increase a service time total Fangraphs identifies as nine years, three days, Ramírez must wait his turn.

“It’s just moving slowly,” Ramírez said with a laugh. “Too slow. I wish it moved a little faster, but it’s just life. I cannot change what I did in the past, but I can work on my present. Hopefully I have a better future. … It’s about being patient. Be patient. Go there. Do the best I can. But at the same time, you know they have kids who need to develop. Not because they’re just doing mistakes that means they’re just going down (to the minors). That’s how you learn, that’s how I learned to pitch. The best thing to do for me is to wait for my chance.”

Working with a fastball that averaged 90.6 mph, Ramírez posted a 4.35 ERA over 20 2/3 innings with Tampa Bay last season.

Early in camp, Ramírez likes how his command is progressing. He expects the velocity will follow.

“I depend on my command,” Ramírez said. “My command is big. I know I can compete. As of right now, I just want to be able to compete and after that, when the speed shows up, good luck to the hitters.”

Lewis homers just in time

Royce Lewis beat the rain and also the plane.

Batting in the second inning of a rain-shortened contest Monday, Lewis homered in his only at-bat. What made the first homer he’s hit since Sept. 1 is that Lewis’s mom and sister were in the stands for one more game before flying back to California.

Coming off a late-season slump, Lewis likes how he feels from an approach standpoint early in camp. Back in December, Lewis described himself as feeling “bouncy” compared to last season when he batted .233/.295/.452 with 16 homers in 325 plate appearances.

“It’s not meaningless,” Lewis said. “Every at-bat counts. I have a good approach right now, I’m going to keep sticking with that. Grow off of that. It was awesome for me, my mom and sister were here. Their last day here so I’ve got to take care of business before they leave and I did that.”

Veteran lineup makes rare road trip

Carlos Correa batted second. Byron Buxton hit third. A bunch of additional veteran Twins hitters made the 53-mile trek from the team’s home park to Charlotte Sports Park on Monday.

Part of Baldelli’s plan to get his team working together as often as possible in spring training, a new tactic, the Twins fielded an official-looking lineup when they traveled to the Tampa Bay Rays on Monday. Correa acknowledged he signed up, knowing what the messaging would look like for his younger teammates if he were willing to participate in the type of trip most veterans on several Florida-based teams avoid every spring. Whereas teams in Arizona’s Cactus League are located closer to one another, Grapefruit League teams are spread throughout Florida aside from several squads clustered together in the Tampa Bay and Palm Beach areas.

Located in Fort Myers, the Twins are directly across town from the Boston Red Sox but must travel a minimum of one hour to reach their next-nearest opponent.

“It’s good to get our guys out there and playing together, not only early in the spring, but not taking two or three days in between from their first games,” Baldelli said. “That’s something that we have looked at, identified and want to work toward when it comes to making the schedule.”

Monday’s rain didn’t help matters, however, as most players got only one plate appearance before the game was canceled after two innings. Second baseman Edouard Julien didn’t get a plate appearance but asked media members to report he’d had a “good day at the plate,” which brought laughs from several teammates located nearby.