Holland brings relief, resiliency to Rockies ’pen
Bodies and broken-down arms are littered everywhere inside the Colorado Rockies home at Coors Field in Denver.
If you’re a hitter, you voluntarily make your home at Coors Field.
If you’re a pitcher, you’re sentenced there.
Greg Holland, 31, who hasn’t pitched in a game since having Tommy John elbow surgery 17 months ago, knows all about the history at Coors Field.
Now, he plans to mock it.
Holland, a two-time All-Star who totaled 93 saves in back-toback seasons, winning the Mariano Rivera Award as the American League’s top reliever in 2014 and a reliever who helped the Kansas City Royals win two pennants and a World Series title,
has voluntarily chosen to launch his comeback in Denver.
He’s gambling on himself, signing a one-year, $7 million guaranteed contract, believing that he can overcome all the odds and the Mile High elements to again become one of the game’s elite closers.
“That’s Greg,” says Chicago White Sox starter James Shields, a former teammate of Holland’s in Kansas City. “Really, he’s the epitome of a warrior. Even when you knew he was hurting, he would take the ball but never complained about it. He was pitching through a lot of pain but kept going out there, trying to help us win.
“One of the greatest teammates I’ve ever been around.”
This is a pitcher who pitched his last game for the Royals on Sept. 18, 2015. Yet when the news hit last month that former teammate Yordano Ventura was killed in a car accident, he immediately left Charleston, S.C., where he had just attended a wedding. He drove home to Asheville, N.C. Jumped on a plane to the Dominican Republic. Took the Royals bus to the funeral. And then went directly from Santo Domingo to Denver for a physical with the Rockies.
“It was such a whirlwind, but I had to be there,” Holland says. “It’s so tough, so unexpected. You don’t know how you’re going to react to something like that. It’s hard to describe that feeling, such a young kid with so much talent. I don’t think enough is being said about the character and makeup of him.
“I can’t imagine what his mom and family are going through. ... I just can’t imagine.”
This is the heart and fabric of Holland, a young man with an old soul, pitching when he should have stopped but refusing to let down his teammates.
Holland could have shut it down in the infancy of the 2015 season. He knew something was wrong. His elbow was throbbing. His command was way off. His strikeouts were way down. The man who was one of the most dominating closers in the Ameri- can League couldn’t throw strikes, and when he did, he was getting pounded, yielding a 5.50 ERA in the second half, surrendering 24 hits and 11 walks in 18 innings.
If it were simply a matter of money and protecting his future, Holland could have opted to have surgery in 2014. He had suffered a ligament tear late in the season. He refused, pitching in 11 games in the postseason with seven saves before the Royals lost Game 7 of the World Series to the San Francisco Giants.
He again could have had surgery that winter, but with the team so close to a World Series title, he opted to rehab it. The elbow throbbed throughout the summer, but every time the Royals asked, he refused to have an examination. He saved 32 games before his elbow finally gave way in September.
“I could have had surgery a lot earlier than I did, but I wouldn’t have been as successful in Kansas City if I had that attitude. It’s who I am as a player,” Holland says.
“They gave me $8 million in Kansas City to get outs in the ninth inning. That was my job. That was my responsibility. I tried to do it as long as I could, but towards the end of season, I just couldn’t perform. That hurt worse than anything.”
Holland, who had been with the Royals organization since being a 10th-round draft pick in 2007, could only watch as his teammates, with Wade Davis taking his role, won the 2015 World Series against the New York Mets without him.
“I know I was a big part of helping change the culture there and what we accomplished, but not to be physically on the field, that still was the toughest thing for me,” Holland says. “When we won the World Series, I was so happy, but at the end of the day, man, I just wanted to be out there so bad. I wanted that feeling. That’s why I’m here now, to get that feeling back.”
The Rockies haven’t been to the playoffs since 2009. They haven’t had a winning record since 2010. And they have not won a division title since their inception in 1993.
But now, with a rebuilt bullpen led by newcomers Mike Dunn and Holland, the acquisition of first baseman Ian Desmond and the maturity of a young rotation led by Jon Gray, Tyler Chatwood, Tyler Anderson and Chad Bettis, Holland is dreaming big.
“It reminds me of Kansas City,” Holland says. “I did my homework before I signed here. I know what they’ve got. I felt the pieces they added, the holes they filled to contend, that was the deciding factor for me. I wasn’t going to come to a place where I couldn’t win.
“It’s just like we did there for three or four years in Kansas City. We grew together, learned together, and went from competing to winning. I think you’ll see the same thing here.”
The Rockies are relying on Holland to provide the finishing touch, and provided there are no setbacks this spring, he will return to the closer’s role. They want his moxie, that mid-90s fastball and the devastating splitfingered fastball in the ninth inning.
“You’ve got to love his makeup, the fact he wanted to pitch here,” new Rockies manager Bud Black said. “You have to have the mental ability to face adversity, to handle pitching here, and ultimately have the belief you’re a good pitcher no matter where you are.”
Certainly, Holland had plenty of other places to go. Agent Scott Boras was in negotiations with the Washington Nationals up until the end. More than half the teams in baseball expressed interest after his open workout at Grand Canyon University in Phoenix during the general managers meetings.
The Rockies had strong interest but were wary, wondering if Holland would even be interested. Rockies pitching coach Steve Foster, who knew Holland from their days together in Kansas City when he was the bullpen coach, picked up the phone and wanted to know himself.
“He actually called me several weeks prior to me signing, and he asked me, ‘ Hey would you even be interested in Colorado?’ ” Holland said. “I said, ‘ Why not? You have a good team. That’s what I want to be part of, a good team. I’m interested if you are. I just want to be back in the postseason.’ ”
Well, Foster kept putting the pressure on Rockies GM Jeff Bridich, who ramped up negotiations with Boras. Soon, Holland was signing a one-year deal worth $7 million with incentives that could turn it into a $14 million deal. If he pitches in 50 games this year or finishes 30 games, the contract vests into a $15 million player option for 2018. If it doesn’t vest, it becomes a $10 million mutual option.
“That will take care of itself. All I care about is competing again and winning again,” says Holland, who says his arm feels remarkably strong after his early bullpen sessions. “I want to help this team win. I want to help this team get to places they haven’t been in a while.
“I’ve been there. I’ve done that. You keep bringing in young talent, let them have their ups and downs, and the next thing you know, you’re going to back-toback World Series.
“It can be done here, too. I just know it.”