St. Louis Cardinals: St. Louis Cardinals and Greg Holland agree to deal
Just when you thought the St. Louis Cardinals were happy with their roster they shock Cardinal nation.
As if Opening Day itself wasn’t enough, the St. Louis Cardinals have decided to make a little bit more news today. The team has agreed to a one year, 14 million dollar deal (Per Jon Heyman) with closer Greg Holland pending a physical.
No corresponding move has been announced but we will keep you updated on that when information is released. The move comes after an extremely long offseason for Holland who was the last big name to get a contract.
The 2018 offseason was interesting to say the least. Slow pace and surprising contracts were the story from start to finish. For Holland the wait spilled into Spring Training and finally ended on Opening Day.
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Holland will slide into a bullpen that has a mixed perception from the fan base. While some believe the bullpen has a lot of high upside pitchers and would be more than capable another faction wanted more. For those who wanted more there is now Greg Holland.
Last season while pitching in hitter-friendly Coors Field, Holland was able to post a 3.61 ERA and save 41 games. This was just a year removed from Tommy John surgery so it is fairly safe to assume that he was dealing with some rust.
Pitching in a more hitter friendly park and being another year removed from surgery could allow Holland to return closer to the pitcher he was at his top from in Kansas City.
The plan for Holland remains unclear. Since he was not in spring training he will need some innings to be ready for actual game action. Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post Dispatch reports that Holland has been throwing. There should be an expectation that Holland would need a little bit of time before being able to pitch a live game.
The Cardinals will open the season today with the New York Mets at 12:10 pm CST. Today you should expect to see either Dominic Leone or Tyler Lyons in a potential save situation, but those two will have different roles once Holland is able to join the team. Check back in later for any new information regarding the Holland deal.