Holland Shines Again

by Scout Hoffman www.profantasybaseball.com I have said before that I would never recommend a Texas Rangers pitcher. Especially a rookie pitcher in the sweltering heat of the Texas sun, but Derek Holland has turned in two great outings in his last three turns. On July 30th against the Mariners, Holland struck out 10 Mariners and allowed only two hits and one run in 8.2 innings. Today he fanned 8 in a three hitter versus the Angels. Unfortunately he sandwiched those two starts around a clunker at Oakland. The southpaw Holland was a 25th round pick in 2006 and has shot up through the Rangers system with an electric fastball that has topped out at 98 mph. He pairs that with a plus slider and improving change. As will all rookie pitchers there will be some bumps in the road, but Holland has shown he can be dominant. His overall numbers for 2009 are not that impressive, but the waiver wire is full of 'what have you done for me lately' guys and Holland could be a solid matchup play for the stretch run.

The Yankee Test: Derek Holland

Derek Holland's first start of his career was very average. Against the Astros, he went 5.2 innings, gave up 5 hits, 3 earned runs (off of a 3 run homer), had 5 strikeouts, and walked none. Not bad but not great for this Texas prospect. He left with the lead, but didn't get the win as the bullpen coughed it up. Holland is/was the top pitching prospect for Texas (yes, even over Feliz) and has his second career start on Wednesday against the Yanks. This will be a tough assignment. The Yankee test should give us a decent look at what this guy can do - will he implode under the pressure, step up his game, or be average again. We'll see. Padilla is set to return in about a week, which may mean that Holland goes back to the pen, but GM Joe Daniels said, "Let's see how these guys pitch and then we'll decide," - Being that they want Holland to be a starter and had planned all along for him to be starting, his spot in the rotation may be long lasting (Harrison, failing the Yankee test, by getting lit up doesn't hurt Holland's chances either). All prospects should be watched very closely. Some of these prospects will fail, some will be the next Santana (Johan), and some will fall into the 'journey man' category. We should have a little clearer picture of the potential of Holland after Wednesday. Deep leagues may want to give him a seat on their bench (hard to recommend starting any pitcher against the Yanks) and hope for a breakout. The rest of you, watch and wait. -Scout Monkey

( scout_monkey@gmx.com)