By Jordan Long
The Washington Nationals are in the Wild Card hunt. They are 2 games ahead of the St. Louis Cardinals for the 1st Wild Card spot. They decided their weak link was the bullpen. The bullpen is second worst in MLB with an ERA of 6.01, only Baltimore is worse at 6.07. Washington agreed to a contract with Greg Holland in hopes of improving the bullpen for the stretch run. They are hoping for a Wild Card berth and maybe even hosting the Wild Card Game.
Holland was with the Arizona Diamondbacks to start the year. He was not reliable. Holland saved 17 games but blew 5 of them. Holland’s record was 1-2 with a 4.54 ERA. The Diamondbacks saw enough and released him on August 9th.
Washington knows the bullpen is the key to making a deep run in October. They are familiar with Holland because he pitched for them in 2018. He appeared in 24 games and had 3 saves. His ERA was 0.84 with a record of 2-0.
Holland’s deal will be official after he passes a physical. Once that is complete, he is going to be assigned to either Double A with the Harrisburg Senators or Triple-A with the Fresno Grizzlies. This will give Holland a few games to work on his pitching. If he pitches well in the minor leagues then he should be called up in September.
Once Holland is pitching in a Nationals’ uniform, they need to see the pitcher they saw last year. When Holland was in the game, he shut down the opponent’s chances of coming back with 25 strikeouts. That will help this team clinch a playoff spot.
Washington can’t have Holland give up walks, hits, or home runs. This may end up hurting their chances of making the postseason. Holland could be the reliever to boost the bullpen for a deep run in October.
Leave a Reply