Kansas City Royals: Ranking The Bullpen
Kansas City Royals pitcher Greg Holland (56) – Mandatory Credit: Peter G. Aiken-USA TODAY Sports
Greg Holland is easily one of the best closers in all of baseball, but his command hasn’t been there this season and it’s shown big time. The reason he’s ranked second is because… Well, duh. You all know who number one is and how he deserves to be number one.
Similar to Kelvin Herrera though, it would be tough for Holland to replicate the success he had in 2014 when he posted a 1.44 ERA (and 1.21 ERA in 2013). Does anyone freak out when Holland goes to close out a game? No, but that extreme confidence that existed last season and all during the playoffs isn’t as prominent anymore.
Holland’s most recent appearances have been both good and not so good. Both appearances came against the Twins, and the first consisted of him giving up two runs and allowing one of those runs to score. His ERA went from a 2.70 to a 3.00 as a result.
Holland’s second appearance came in the ninth inning of a tie game. Holland went on to pitch one inning, striking out two batters, and leaving the inning without allowing any damage.
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Part of the reason for Holland’s “decline” (I really hate saying that because the guy is still good) is due to the loss of velocity on his fastball. John Viril of Kings of Kauffman wrote,
"A big reason is his loss of fastball velocity. In 2014, Greg Holland averaged 95.7 mph with the heat. This year, that number is a mere 93.3 mph. Loss of zip has caused Holland to nibble at the plate. His walk rate (BB%) has zoomed to 16.0%, up from his career rate of 9.4%."
Despite that, a lot of other teams in the league would love to have Holland as their closer. He’s had 16 saves this season. Holland only blew one save, but he later went out and got the win in that game.
Holland’s most saves were 47 in 2013, and he had 46 in 2014. The lack of saves so far this season is due to Holland spending two weeks on the disabled list back in early May.
Highlight of 2015 season so far: At the beginning of the season, Holland looked like the same exact Holland from last year. His second appearance was probably his best moment (even though there are many to choose from). Holland went out and closed the game out against the White Sox, striking out two batters, and not allowing any damage whatsoever. Nails.
Lowlight of 2015 season so far: It’s a tough choice between the debacle against the Yankees and the Brewers game, but I’ll have to go with the Milwaukee outing. The Yankees game was already way out of reach for Kansas City whereas the Royals had a fairly big lead in that Brewers game.
That lead was almost completely evaporated when Holland was put into the ninth, allowing three runs off of four hits and was removed from the game before even recording a single out. It was a scary appearance for one of the best closers in Royals history.
Next: Is There Even a Question as to Who's the Best?