By Jordan Long
The Arizona Diamondbacks’ pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training on February 12th. The 1st full team workout is February 18th. The Diamondbacks added depth to their bullpen, agreeing to a 1-year contract with reliever Greg Holland worth $3.5 million. He can earn another $3.5 million through performance bonuses.
Holland started last season with the St. Louis Cardinals. He appeared in 32 games for St. Louis. Holland couldn’t do his job, which was to save games. He ended with a record of 0-2 with 3 blown saves. The Cardinals couldn’t trust Holland in tight games. He left the ball up where a batter was able to smack it for base hits. Holland wasn’t able to command the zone and had a total of 22 walks, far too many. He ended with an ERA of 7.92.
St. Louis had seen enough. They decided to release him on July 27, 2018. He was not doing his job to save games. This gave Holland a chance to save his season with another team. The Washington Nationals were that team.
His numbers improved with the Nationals. Holland pitched 21.1 innings and had a record of 2-0 with 3 saves. His ERA was 0.84. Hitters were having a difficult time catching up to his pitches and he only walked 10 batters. It was a surprise Washington didn’t keep him, but decided to let him test free agency.
The Diamondbacks needed Holland to add to their depth in the bullpen. They don’t have a true closer. The closer for them right now is Archie Bradley who has 4 saves in his career, not somebody the Diamondbacks have confidence in when they needed a pitcher to end the game. Holland will be in the mix to be the closer. He has shown he can handle those duties. Holland has a total of 189 saves. His problem has been the blown saves. Holland has to prove to the Diamondbacks he can control the 9th inning and shut opponents down. If they start to see the pitcher Holland was with the Cardinals, he will not last.
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