As the Pirates moved into the bottom of the eighth inning of a tie game with the World Series champions tonight at Dodger Stadium, Derek Shelton said he only had a few relief options after four games in four days here on the West Coast.
He had a decision to make and he put his trust in Colin Holderman, his setup man who has struggled since the middle of last season and was fresh of an IL stint for a right knee sprain.
It showed.
As Holderman toed the rubber, Teoscar Hernández stepped into the batter's box and saw one pitch, a cutter up and in, before doing this to the second:
"He punished it," Holderman would say. "After that, it was hard to get into a rhythm, I was kind of sped up."
Holderman faced two more hitters after that home run as he walked Max Muncy and gave up a single to Andy Pages, who's gone 6-for-7 in this series with three doubles. Joey Wentz relieved Holderman, faced six batters and gave up a three-run home run to Kiké Hernández to hand the Pirates a 8-4 loss here at Dodger Stadium.
Tonight was Holderman's first appearance with the Pirates since joining them here yesterday. He was activated this morning and was immediately thrown into the fire of a 4-4 ballgame. Up to this point in the season, Holderman has struggled. In his five appearances before his IL stint, he'd thrown 4 2/3 innings, allowed six hits, five earned runs and four walks while striking out six. He's had just one outing where he hasn't allowed a run.
When facing the decision to go to Holderman in that situation, Shelton said "we had the right lane" and added that Dennis Santana was down tonight after throwing in three of the last four games, even though he'd thrown just 11 pitches in his appearance yesterday and 20 between his two appearances against the Angles. He added that Bednar had thrown in three of four as well.
"We're in a situation where we thought we had the lane we liked," Shelton said.
Given Holderman's struggles dating back to last year and his not-so-clean performances in the minors during his IL-stint -- two appearances, 1 2/3 IP, three hits, one earned run, one strikeout and a 5.40 ERA -- I asked Shelton what gave him confidence to go to Holderman in that type of situation.
"Well, he's pitched in those situations before. I mean, that's the thing. He's pitched in leverage," Shelton said. "And again, today, with where we were at in our bullpen, that's the lane that we liked. We just didn't get it done."
Even with Bednar warming in the bullpen when you had a 4-3 lead?
"It's just a decision by me," Shelton said. "There were different decisions made depending on what the score was."
Holderman's struggles began around late July last year. He was lights out for the first four months of the season and had lowered his ERA to 0.52 toward the end of May. However, it slowly climbed later in the year and after three bad outings at the beginning of August he was placed on the IL with a right-wrist sprain. He hasn't been the same since.
He put together a solid spring training, but allowed two earned runs in his first appearance of the season against the Marlins and gave up a home run in his third. But, as he arrived at Dodger Stadium, Holderman said this was the "best I’ve felt on the mound for a long time."
So, on this occasion, I asked what gave him that confidence as he returned to the big-league club.
"I just felt like we kind of figured some things out down there with the body and how I was moving and the ball was coming out crispy," Holderman said. "Then I think tonight, I just sped it up a little bit and let the moment get the best of me. Normally, I’m pretty good at slowing it down. I think just, the first one back, I was pretty fired up, I just wasn’t as good with the mechanics and it just wasn’t coming out right. Then, after you get jumped, everything kind of speeds up. I was trying to take a deep breath but, ya know, I only got three batters."
Holderman has shown in the past that he can be relied on in situations like tonight's, but it seems like that version of himself is in the past. So what does he have to do to rediscover it?
"Just take a deep breath and trust myself," Holderman said. "I know how good I am and I think I’m just pressing a little bit. I’m trying to get back to that old me and I’m trying as hard as I can. I think, maybe, I’m just trying a little too hard. I’m forcing it. I’ll take it day by day."
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THE ASYLUM
Greg Macafee
6:01 am - 04.27.2025LOS ANGELESHolderman back in bullpen ... and bombed again
As the Pirates moved into the bottom of the eighth inning of a tie game with the World Series champions tonight at Dodger Stadium, Derek Shelton said he only had a few relief options after four games in four days here on the West Coast.
He had a decision to make and he put his trust in Colin Holderman, his setup man who has struggled since the middle of last season and was fresh of an IL stint for a right knee sprain.
It showed.
As Holderman toed the rubber, Teoscar Hernández stepped into the batter's box and saw one pitch, a cutter up and in, before doing this to the second:
"He punished it," Holderman would say. "After that, it was hard to get into a rhythm, I was kind of sped up."
Holderman faced two more hitters after that home run as he walked Max Muncy and gave up a single to Andy Pages, who's gone 6-for-7 in this series with three doubles. Joey Wentz relieved Holderman, faced six batters and gave up a three-run home run to Kiké Hernández to hand the Pirates a 8-4 loss here at Dodger Stadium.
Tonight was Holderman's first appearance with the Pirates since joining them here yesterday. He was activated this morning and was immediately thrown into the fire of a 4-4 ballgame. Up to this point in the season, Holderman has struggled. In his five appearances before his IL stint, he'd thrown 4 2/3 innings, allowed six hits, five earned runs and four walks while striking out six. He's had just one outing where he hasn't allowed a run.
When facing the decision to go to Holderman in that situation, Shelton said "we had the right lane" and added that Dennis Santana was down tonight after throwing in three of the last four games, even though he'd thrown just 11 pitches in his appearance yesterday and 20 between his two appearances against the Angles. He added that Bednar had thrown in three of four as well.
"We're in a situation where we thought we had the lane we liked," Shelton said.
Given Holderman's struggles dating back to last year and his not-so-clean performances in the minors during his IL-stint -- two appearances, 1 2/3 IP, three hits, one earned run, one strikeout and a 5.40 ERA -- I asked Shelton what gave him confidence to go to Holderman in that type of situation.
"Well, he's pitched in those situations before. I mean, that's the thing. He's pitched in leverage," Shelton said. "And again, today, with where we were at in our bullpen, that's the lane that we liked. We just didn't get it done."
Even with Bednar warming in the bullpen when you had a 4-3 lead?
"It's just a decision by me," Shelton said. "There were different decisions made depending on what the score was."
Holderman's struggles began around late July last year. He was lights out for the first four months of the season and had lowered his ERA to 0.52 toward the end of May. However, it slowly climbed later in the year and after three bad outings at the beginning of August he was placed on the IL with a right-wrist sprain. He hasn't been the same since.
He put together a solid spring training, but allowed two earned runs in his first appearance of the season against the Marlins and gave up a home run in his third. But, as he arrived at Dodger Stadium, Holderman said this was the "best I’ve felt on the mound for a long time."
So, on this occasion, I asked what gave him that confidence as he returned to the big-league club.
"I just felt like we kind of figured some things out down there with the body and how I was moving and the ball was coming out crispy," Holderman said. "Then I think tonight, I just sped it up a little bit and let the moment get the best of me. Normally, I’m pretty good at slowing it down. I think just, the first one back, I was pretty fired up, I just wasn’t as good with the mechanics and it just wasn’t coming out right. Then, after you get jumped, everything kind of speeds up. I was trying to take a deep breath but, ya know, I only got three batters."
Holderman has shown in the past that he can be relied on in situations like tonight's, but it seems like that version of himself is in the past. So what does he have to do to rediscover it?
"Just take a deep breath and trust myself," Holderman said. "I know how good I am and I think I’m just pressing a little bit. I’m trying to get back to that old me and I’m trying as hard as I can. I think, maybe, I’m just trying a little too hard. I’m forcing it. I’ll take it day by day."
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