Diamondbacks Claim Grant Holman

The Diamondbacks have claimed right-hander Grant Holman off waivers from the Athletics, per a team announcement. Holman was designated for assignment by the A’s last week to make room for Aaron Civale on the club’s 40-man roster. Southpaw A.J. Puk was placed on the 60-day injured list to make room for Holman on the 40-man roster.

Holman, 26 in May, was a sixth-round pick by the A’s back in 2021 and made his MLB debut in 2024. That first taste of MLB action went fairly well, as he pitched to a 4.00 ERA (100 ERA+) with a solid 3.87 FIP across 18 appearances, striking out 22.0% of his opponents despite an elevated 12.3% walk rate. It was a good debut overall and seemed to portend a larger role with the A’s in 2025, but things unfortunately did not work out that way. While he did make more appearances in 2025, they weren’t especially effective as he wound up posting a lackluster 5.09 ERA in 23 innings of work. His peripherals weren’t much better, as he posted a 4.66 FIP and his strikeout rate fell to 16.5%.

Perhaps he would’ve gotten more of a look at the big league level had injuries not gotten in the way, but rotator cuff tendinitis sidelined him for the majority of the 2025 campaign. He threw just 32 1/3 innings between the majors and minors in total, though his 9 1/3 scoreless frames at Triple-A with a 31.0% strikeout rate did suggest there could be some upside in Holmes’s profile if he can just stay healthy long enough to reach it. Regardless, the A’s had seen enough and cut him loose earlier this week as they beefed up their pitching staff with more veteran additions.

Still, Holman’s upside was intriguing enough for the Diamondbacks to the roll the dice on him. That’s an understandable decision to make for the club given their need for help in the bullpen this year with both Puk and Justin Martinez set to start the year on the injured list as they rehab from elbow surgeries. Puk will be back sooner than Martinez, having undergone UCL revision surgery rather than full Tommy John, but even he is expected back at some point in June at the earliest. That gives the Diamondbacks a few months where they’ll need to patch together a bullpen using veterans like Michael Soroka and Paul Sewald as well as youngsters like Kade Strowd and Andrew Hoffmann. Holman figures to be part of that latter group, and will compete for a role in the Opening Day bullpen for the club during Spring Training. Should he miss out on a roster spot to open the season, he’ll head to Triple-A and join players like Phillip Abner and Juan Morillo in the mix for a call-up when injuries or roster churn necessitate it.