Greg Holland returns to Royals on minor-league deal with spring training invite
A familiar face from the Kansas City Royals’ dominating bullpens of their 2014 and 2015 playoff teams will be in Arizona next month.
Right-handed pitcher Greg Holland agreed to a minor-league contract with a spring training invitation, a source told The Star on Tuesday night. If he makes the major-league roster, his contract will be worth $1.25 million plus up to another $1.125 million in performance bonuses.
Holland, 34, last pitched for the Royals in 2015, undergoing Tommy John surgery in September. He saved a combined 93 games with a 1.32 ERA as an All-Star in 2013 and 2014, and he was the Mariano Rivera Award winner as the league’s top relief pitcher in 2014 as the Royals reached the World Series.
He saved 32 games prior to his surgery in 2015, but was shut down before the Royals’ run to the World Series championship.
Holland sat out the 2016 season and joined the Colorado Rockies, saving a NL-best 41 games in 61 appearances and making another All-Star team in 2017. He pitched for the St. Louis Cardinals (32 games) and Washington Nationals (24 games) in 2018 as well as the Arizona Diamondbacks (40 games) in 2019.
Last season with the Diamondbacks, Holland posted a 4.54 ERA with 41 strikeouts in 35 2/3 innings, and opponents batted .198 against him. He also walked 24 batters and registered a WHIP of 1.37.
He’ll provide another option for the Royals as they attempt to bolster a bullpen that ranked among the worst in the majors last season.
The Royals are expected to move Jorge Lopez and Glenn Sparkman to the bullpen this season along with Jesse Hahn, who is coming off elbow surgery.
This offseason the club also signed former Cardinals closer Trevor Rosenthal, traded for former Yankees pitcher Chance Adams and added former Tampa Bay Rays minor league pitcher Stephen Woods Jr. through the Rule 5 Draft.
This story was originally published January 28, 2020 at 9:25 PM.
