TUESDAY: Holland has signed. He will begin with Double-A Harrisburg, Todd Dybas of NBC Sports Washington tweets.
MONDAY: The Nationals have agreed to a minor-league contract with veteran reliever Greg Holland, according to Jon Heyman of MLB Network (via Twitter). MLB.com’s Jamal Collier reported earlier today on Twitter that the sides were moving towards a deal.
Holland, a 33-year-old righty, was released recently by the Diamondbacks. He’ll continue to be paid the balance of his $3.25MM salary by the Arizona organization, though the D.C. org will pay the tab for the league minimum rate for whatever time Holland spends in a big-league uniform down the stretch.
When Holland joined the Nats late in the 2018 campaign, he was looking to bounce back from a brutal opening to the season. This time around, he had turned in good results for a lengthy stretch before things soured. But he’s also dealing with a different sort of problem: a marked, mid-season decline in velocity and swinging-strike rate on his fastball.
On the positive side, Holland has seemingly been good at limiting contact. Statcast credits him with a .292 xwOBA-against and excellent .192 xBA-against, though he is allowing more hard contact (36.8%) and a greater exit velocity (89.3 mph) than ever before. Keeping opponents from getting aboard by way of base knocks is particularly important for Holland since his walk rate is over 15% for the second consecutive year.
It remains to be seen whether and when Holland will contribute to the Nats’ pen. But the club has good cause to bring him aboard and hope for the best. The D.C. relief corps is as shaky as any such unit on a contending roster. Having already cycled through quite a few bullpen arms, including no shortage of recognizable veterans, the Nationals have little choice but to keep giving looks to the hurlers of Holland’s ilk that happen to come available.
Hey, why not?
Wish the Twins had grabbed him.
Holland relocates to Washington DC !!
Lmaoo
Remember when this guy turned down record setting reliever money?
And he’s still making more $ than you ever will, while you throw shade on the internet and he keeps pitching in the majors.
So? He still made a huge mistake. And you’re still a sad little troll
Yup!
Lembeck’s appeal is one of the strangest things I see repeated on these forums. I think it’s a given established mlb players have more money than us commenters; I’m
not sure why that needs to be said, and I’m constantly unsure of the point of stating it.
Nats sign Holland, isn’t that weird?
Nope…causes he’s cheap and worked out last season
A minor-league contract commits the Nats to very little going forward, and they are very much in the look and see mode for relief.
Mets celebrate.
Mike Rizzo is seriously grasping at straws in a desperate attempt to save his job.
Ignorance knows no bounds
If you look at it, what he is doing is actually working. Read an article a few days ago that from May 24th on, the relievers who are currently in the Nationals bullpen have the second best era in baseball. Obviously that doesnt mean they have been good overall, but the poorest performers are gone and rosnethal etc. performance isnt relevant anymore to the current team. The 6 era the bullpen is sporting isnt how bad the bullpen currently is.
What’s going on Twins front office, you lose your phone?
They have sprint, so no service
Washington just keep laughing as teams keep signing Holland in the first half of the year. They’ve learned to wait.
If you listen closely, you can hear all the clog thumping in the locker room from your couch.
….what.
Good Dodgers destroy Holland.
I remember when the Cardinals signed him.. Fan base was excited. He came in and obviously was nowhere near ready to go and eventually got released. He has been pretty awful every since… Do you all think that is purely mental at this point? Because before that he was lights out….
He was pretty lights out when he was released and picked up by the Nats last year.
I agree he sat out all spring and thought he would be able to make an impact for the Cards. The Cardinals made a mistake too by not requiring him to spend 2 months in the minors to get his stuff together. He was a selfish player that refused to get his stuff together in the minors so the Cards had no choice but to eat his salary and release him.
Do you think he still has his hat from last year?
Why not? Nats just hoping that “his sh_t sticks to the wall.” Rizzo will if course get credit if it sticks but ultimately the Nats are a flawed team that more than likely won’t get pass the wild card game
Angry Mets fan?
Holland?
The difference between innovation and desperation is a lot closer than the innovators would have you believe.
He is worth the risk. Nats can sure use him if he’s anything like his former self. He will be motivated.