On Monday night, the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Los Angeles Angels 5-2 at Angel Stadium. 

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. homered for the second time and Jeff Hoffman delivered a nice bounce back outing, but the real story was Dylan Cease, who struck out 12 batters through just five innings.

Cease, who signed a seven-year deal in the offseason, now leads baseball in strikeouts with 44. 

But beyond those storylines, the work of leverage reliever Louis Varland cannot be ignored. The hard-throwing right-hander threw 1.1 scoreless innings, allowing no baserunners and striking out three.

As noted by StatsCentre, Varland is the first Jays pitcher since 2013 to have a 0.00 ERA through his first 11 games pitched of a season (minimum 12 innings).

Lowest ERA - @BlueJays pitcher's first 11 GP of a season (min. of 12 IP):

0.00- Louis Varland (2026)

0.00- Victor Cruz (1978)

0.00- Tom Henke (1985)

0.00- Paul Quantrill (2001)

0.00- B.J. Ryan (2006)

0.00- Jeremy Accardo (2007)

0.00- Juan Perez (2013)

0.55- Kelvim Escobar (1997)

The 28-year-old Varland, who was acquired at the trade deadline last season from the Minnesota Twins, was a staple of the team's playoff run, pitching in 15 games as the Jays advanced to Game 7 of the World Series.

A former starter with the Twins, Varland became a full-time reliever in 2025, making 74 appearances. He had a 2.97 total ERA in those contests. Lifetime, he's 10-15 with a 4.41 ERA (123 games), but he's a huge part of the Jays bullpen and those numbers should only continue to improve.

The Blue Jays and Angels will meet again with first pitch coming at 9:38 p.m. ET. Left-hander Patrick Corbin (0-0, 4.66 ERA) will pitch for Toronto while right-hander Jack Kochanowicz takes the mound for the Halos. He's 2-0 with a 3.47 ERA.

It could be Corbin's final turn through the rotation for Toronto, as rookie hurler Trey Yesavage is nearly set to return from a right shoulder impingement. He's going to make one more start at Triple-A Buffalo and then he should rejoin the rotation.

When Yesavage does return, it's unclear what will happen to Corbin. He could be released, but we also previously examined his potential as a bullpen fit.

Disregarded earlier this offseason, Jays pitcher Yariel Rodriguez is off to a nice start at Triple-A. Though he's not currently on the 40-man roster, he could find himself back in the mix at some point this season.

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