Holderman Should Give 2025 Pirates Pitching Relief

A healthy Colin Holderman should keep the Pittsburgh Pirates’ coaching staff smiling come February when spring training begins.

It’s not too soon for Pirates’ manager Derek Shelton and his pitching coaches to start planning for next season. The months will pass quickly until it’s time to return to Bradenton. The 76-86 finish for 2024 should already be forgotten.

One player, relief pitcher Colin Holderman, also needs to put his 2024 time coming out of the bullpen in his rearview mirror. His stats are better than what they appear. A 3-6 record doesn’t properly sum up Holderman’s importance to the Pirates.

A nagging wrist injury during the recent season hampered his effectiveness at times. Along with Aroldis Chapman, Carmen Mlodzinski, and David Bednar were the go-to stoppers for Pirates’ starters for most of the season.

Come spring training, Holderman should once again be in the mix, as far as having an important role from the pen for next season. Throw in Dennis Santana, who came to Pittsburgh after being put on waivers by the New York Yankees last June, Jalen Beeks, acquired by the Pirates from a trade with Colorado in July, and Joey Wentz, claimed off waivers from the Detroit Tigers in September, and Holderman promises to be in excellent company in the bullpen.

Aside from Holderman’s work from the mound, he’s easy to root for. I’ve heard seemingly forever that there’s no rooting from the press box. I disagree. Writers are fans, too. The longer you spend in clubhouses, in dugouts, and around batting cages, it’s near impossible not to see ballplayers as people, too.

Next season, I’m cheering (silently, of course) for Holderman to have a career year. When you speak with him for the first time, it’s easy to feel as if he has been a friend for a long time.

I watched Holderman go about his work last spring at Pirate City and then LECOM Park. Quiet, always on time, always putting forth his best effort during morning workouts and in exhibition games, I became a fan.

Fast-forward to last June, when I traveled to Pittsburgh to take in a three-game series with the visiting Cincinnati Reds. I witnessed the same unassuming Holderman going about his business.

The first time I attended a game at PNC Park was about two hours before the first pitch. As I look around the Pirates’ clubhouse, there’s Holderman’s locker, to the left, next to Bednar’s stall, and to his right, catcher Joey Bart’s stall. Relaxed, and sitting down, Holderman gave off an air of confidence.

In July 2022, it was through a trade with the New York Mets for Daniel Vogelbach that brought Holderman to Pittsburgh. When I approached the relief specialist, he couldn’t have been more welcoming. Going back to his coming to be a Pirate, I was interested in knowing how a player that comes over from another organization acclimates with the many news faces in the clubhouse.

“For sure, it’s like the first day when attending a new school,” Holderman said prior to going out onto the field to warm up. “I knew Ke’ (Pirates’ third baseman Ke’ Bryan Hayes), but I needed to put names to faces.”

Coming up in the Mets’ organization, when Holderman was traded in July 2022, this was a day that he still remembers clearly. At Citi Field in Queens (NY), while prepping for a home game with the San Diego Padres, a tug on the back of Holderman ‘s jersey by then Mets’ skipper Buck Showalter made the trade a reality.

“Buck and the pitching coach (Jeremy Hefner) came over to me, and I was told I’d been traded to Pittsburgh,” recalls Holderman, selected by the Mets in the ninth-round of the 2016 MLB Draft.

Holderman remembers when first arriving with his new teammates, it was Shelton who was first to welcome him. The two have a common denominator – Southern Illinois University at Carbondale.

“(Shelton) shook my hand and welcomed me. I felt positive vibes about being with the club right away,” said Holderman.

SIUC is in Carbondale. Holderman pitched for the Salukis in 2015. Shelton for four seasons (1989-1992) played for his hometown college program, then moved on from Carbondale to two seasons as a catcher in the Yankees’ minor league system.

Holderman is a good guy with a good right arm that can make baseballs go in strange directions. The wrist issues that he experienced this past season played a major role in Holderman not performing up to expectation. The luxury of rest over the winter should be the elixir that allows Holderman to physically regain strength in his right arm.

After being activated off the 15-day injured list on September 1, and completing a rehabilitation stint with Triple-A Indianapolis, Holderman had a productive finish to his season. After the Pirates’ Game 162 with the Yankees this past Sunday, a game in which he struck out three batters in a row but is credited with the loss, Holderman was called upon for the 55th time from the bullpen in 2024.

Next week, Holderman, who is going into Sunday’s game in the Bronx with an impressive 1.59 ERA over his last seven appearances, turns 29-years-old. He is a proven commodity for Shelton, pitching coach Oscar Marin, and bullpen coach Justin Meccage. It’s safe to assume Holderman won’t disappoint his coaching staff or Pirates’ fans in 2025.

Cheering for Holderman is not only a good thing from the seats at PNC Park but also an earned honor way up in the press box, too.