The Kansas City Royals will have to do without reliever Greg Holland for the rest of 2015, and possibly even longer as the former closer has been shut down due to an ongoing sore elbow.
As Andy McCullough of the Kansas City Star notes, Holland has a significant tear in his UCL and will be seen by doctors next week in L.A. It’s possible he may need the dreaded Tommy John surgery depending on the results of exam.
Yost thinks Holland likely tore ligament last August. So Holland pitched all October & saved 32 games in '14 w/ a damaged arm. Impressive.
— Andy McCullough (@ByMcCullough) September 24, 2015
It’s been a tough season for Holland. After having some of the most dominant seasons by a reliever in recent memory as the part of the Royals bullpen in 2013 and 2014, where the 29-year-old righty posted gaudy numbers, including an ERA just a shade just over 1, Holland has struggled to duplicate that success in 2015. He’s seen an uptick in walks, earned runs, and WHIP, while seeing his velocity go down. He’s blown as many saves this year (5) than he has in the last two seasons combined. Holland told McCullough he’s been dealing with arm issues since late August.
Manager Ned Yost named reliever Wade Davis the new closer in lieu of Holland’s troubles, and was pretty blunt with what he was seeing from him.
“You know what you’ve got with Wade,” Yost said. “With Holly you don’t know from one day to the next how his elbow is going to respond, if it’s going to be tight or sore or stiff.
“You’ve got to pretty much know what you’re going to put out there, especially when you get in the playoffs,” he said. “It’s just decisions we have to make, but they are not easy decisions, trust me. But we just have other options.”
Davis of course, has been magnificent this season, earning an All-Star nod as Kansas City’s setup man. The club also has Kelvin Herrera, Ryan Madson and Franklin Morales, who will all likely get a bump in their roles following the news.
