John Holdzkom was expected to make an impact with the Pittsburgh Pirates last season, but a crowded bullpen and injuries derailed his chances. Now, the table is set for the flamethrower to get another shot in 2016.
One of the biggest needs after a quality number three starter for the Pittsburgh Pirates this offseason is to fill the bullpen. At the moment, the Pirates have Mark Melancon, Tony Watson, Jared Hughes, Arquimedes Caminero, and the recently added Juan Nicasio. Rob Scahill and Bobby LaFromboise are also options, but they aren’t ideal. With five current realistic members of the pen, the need for more relief pitchers doesn’t seem that pressing. But that number is deceiving.
For one, Melancon is still on the trade block. If I’m a betting man, Melancon gets traded sooner rather than later. We know Neal Huntington’s history of trading closers, and we know he doesn’t value investing a lot of money into the bullpen. We also know how effective he’s been following this strategy, in terms of managing to have an effective closer and constructing a low-price, quality bullpen. And injuries always happen, so depth in the bullpen is important.
This is where John Holdzkom enters the picture. Holdzkom seems to have fallen off the radar of the fanbase, but I bet he certainly hasn’t for the Pirates. He fits the mold of a low-priced, high-upside bullpen arm. He’s also a flamethrower and was effective in the small sample size he pitched with the major league team in 2014. Holdzkom didn’t make the team out of the gates in 2015 because the Pirates’ bullpen was crowded, especially once Vance Worley was relegated to a long relief role. Holdzkom was expected to eventually reach the majors once injuries occurred, which always do. But a slow start at Triple-A, coupled with multiple injuries, derailed his chance at reaching the majors. But in 2016, these chances are revitalized.
For one, Holdzkom would be making next to nothing contract-wise, considering he doesn’t hit arbitration until after the 2017 season, and won’t become a free agent until after the 2020 season. This is highly beneficial to the small market Pirates.
Second, according to Brooks Baseball, Holdzkom relies heavily on his fastball, which can hit 97 mph, and he “generates an extreme number of groundballs compared to other pitchers’ fourseamers.” It’s not a coincidence that the Pirates spotted and signed this type of pitcher out of an independent league; the organization loves power arms in the bullpen, and they stress getting groundballs for all of their pitchers across the organization. Holdzkom fits both of these categories.
Outside of that, Holdzkom has had success in the majors, albeit in a very small sample size: in nine innings of work in 2014, Holdzkom pitched to an ERA of 2.00 and had a miniscule WHIP of 0.67. He also struck out a remarkable 14 batters and threw just two walks. In the minors in 2015, despite rough patches, Holdzkom finished the year with a 2.96 ERA and 30 strikeouts in just 24.1 innings. He did issue 17 walks, but we know Ray Searage and company manage to limit the control issues for these types of flamethrowers, as we saw them do with Caminero last season. I have confidence in the pitching coaches to take care of Holdzkom’s control issues, or at least limit them.
As long as Holdzkom remains healthy, there’s no reason he shouldn’t see time at the major league level with the Pittsburgh Pirates next season. He’s a low-risk, high-reward arm, and he should be given a chance to see if he can come close to the impact he made with the team at the latter end of 2014.
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