Veteran closer Greg Holland is enjoying a strong bounce-back season with the Arizona Diamondbacks but suffered a major setback when he walked four straight batters to play a significant role in the Los Angeles Dodgers completing yet another walk-off win.
Holland had the Dodgers down to their final strike before suddenly losing all command. Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo stuck with his closer until Holland put Matt Beaty on, bringing in the tying run.
A pitching change couldn’t save the D-Backs, however, as T.J. McFarland promptly walked Cody Bellinger to bring in the game-winning run and give the Dodgers a piece of franchise and MLB history.
The Dodgers now have a chance to finish a two-game sweep against Arizona on Wednesday, thanks mainly to Holland’s implosion.
Yet, right-hander could get a chance to immediately redeem himself. While still stinging from the loss Tuesday night, Lovullo reaffirmed his faith in Holland, per Steve Gilbert of MLB.com:
“I felt like it was still his opportunity to get that closed and slam the door. The bottom line is I believe in him. And I still do believe in him. And he’ll get the baseball again [Wednesday] if there’s a save opportunity because he’s done it a long time. I felt like it was the best opportunity for us to win the game.”
Holland carries a strong track record, mainly stemming from his time on the Kansas City Royals. He was part of the dominant Royals bullpen, along with Kelvin Herrera and Wade Davis, that propelled an unlikely 2014 run to the American League pennant.
He was forced to undergo Tommy John surgery in 2015, however, and missed out on the Royals’ World Series victory over the New York Mets. Holland spent all of 2016 recovering from Tommy John.
Since then, he has bounced around among the Colorado Rockies, St. Louis Cardinals, Washington Nationals and finally the D-Backs.
Surprisingly for a pitcher of his pedigree, Holland has struggled mightily against the Dodgers throughout his career. His 5.73 ERA versus L.A. is his second-highest among any team he has thrown at least 10 innings against.
Holland is only under contract for the current season, having signed a one-year, $3.25 million deal with Arizona in January.
Though the D-Backs are hovering around .500 on the season and 15 games back of the Dodgers in the National League West, they still have motivation to compete rather than start exploring what Holland and other veterans could fetch in the midseason trade market.
Entering play on Wednesday, Arizona sits just 2.5 games behind the Chicago Cubs for the second NL Wild Card spot.
