A large reason the Rockies are off to their sizzling start is because of Greg Holland, the team’s lockdown closer.
With a record of 43-26, Colorado currently leads the National League West, and all of the National League in wins. It is the best start in franchise history.
Prior to Thursday’s walk-off win, Holland was a perfect 23-for-23 in save opportunities this season, the longest streak for a Rockies closer to open a season without suffering a blown save. His 23 consecutive saves converted is the second-longest streak in franchise history (longest: Huston Street, June 8 – Sept. 27, 2009).
While Thursday’s save opportunity was a blown one, Holland should have never been in the game in the first place. From the get-go, the Rockies bats were hot, which allowed them to jump out to a quick 8-1 lead following three innings of play. They led 9-1 heading into the seventh inning.
Then, the pitching began to crumble. Scott Oberg, Mike Dunn, Chad Qualls and Jake McGee all surrendered earned runs during their outings, which allowed San Francisco back into the ballgame.
Holland joined the rest of his relief pitching counterparts when he entered in the ninth inning to try and lock down the win down for the Rockies. From the start, Holland looked slightly off.
He surrendered a leadoff base hit to Slater before striking out former Rockies catcher Nick Hundley. Denard Span singled, sending Slater to third. A wild pitch moved Span up to second base, eliminating the opportunity for a double play.
Holland then surrendered a sacrifice fly to Gorkys Hernandez ,which even the scored up at nine runs apiece and ended Holland’s historic start to the season.
He made a tag play at the plate on another wild pitch, narrowly beating Span to the plate to end the inning.
Instead of the save, Holland would earn the win as Colorado would go on to defeat the division rival Giants by a final score of 10-9 thanks to Ramiel Tapia’s walk-off single.
While Holland’s streak may have come to a close Thursday, there is still plenty of optimism about his performance through the first 69 games. In his first season back from Tommy John surgery, Holland has proven that he can still pitch at the All-Star level in which he did throughout the 2013 and ’14 seasons. Additionally, he leads all of baseball in saves by a wide margin.
Also, Holland has managed to give the Rockies a sense of security at the back end of their games for the first time in many seasons. For years the Rockies bullpen was the source of the club’s struggles. It was again Thursday night, however, the addition of Holland has allowed for a renewed confidence for the Rockies when it comes to closing out ballgames.
All good things come to an end, and Thursday Holland’s streak came to an end. While his streak was remarkable, there is still plenty of good Holland can do moving forward in the season to help the Rockies back to the postseason for the first time since 2009.
