Aviators pitcher anchoring bullpen during playoff push
Minor-league pitching staffs are tough to manage.
Injuries occur often in the rotation and the bullpen. Pitchers get called up and down from the big leagues.
It’s a problem the Aviators know well. Especially when it comes to Grant Holman.
The right-hander’s towering presence has been key to the Aviators’ late-season success. Holman, who is listed at 6-foot-6, has been almost flawless in 40 minor-league appearances totaling 48.2 innings.
The 2021 sixth-round pick of the Oakland Athletics has 54 strikeouts this year and a 0.55 ERA. His dominance forced manager Fran Riordan to move Holman from middle relief to the closer’s role. It then led to the A’s calling up Holman for his MLB debut Saturday.
“For me, I think it’s just pitching to my strengths,” Holman said Thursday. “I think with the bullpen, it’s important to have trust in everyone around you. You’re going to have to come in and clean up something that happened to another guy.
“I think it’s about having trust with one another and getting ready to compete every day.”
Holman’s philosophy has led to success at multiple levels this season.
He started the year in Double-A Midland and allowed no earned runs in 19.1 innings. Then he was solid for the A’s on Saturday, getting his first MLB strikeout in 0.2 innings of work in a 2-0 win over the San Francisco Giants.
The timing of his debut was fortuitous.
It came 11 years and one day after he threw an extra-innings no-hitter for Eastlake (Chula Vista, California) in the 2013 Little League World Series.
“I don’t even know how to put it into words,” Holman told reporters after the game. “You work so hard to get to this point, and it’s just awesome. Just elated, and I can’t wait to go out there and do it again.”
Holman, the No. 21 prospect in the A’s system, according to MLB.com, said the key for him is coming to the ballpark ready to go every day even if he’s not sure he’s going to pitch.
“Knowing that regardless of the changes that happen around you, you’ve got to show up ready to compete and do your job day in and day out,” Holman said.
Call-ups like Holman’s have made finding the right pitching combinations a challenge for Riordan, especially with the Aviators pushing for a Pacific Coast League championship.
The team was just a half-game back of first place in the second-half standings after winning five of six against the Salt Lake Bees from Aug. 6-11. The Aviators then lost four of their first five games against the Oklahoma City Baseball Club entering Sunday’s series finale.
That puts them 2½ games back of the Tacoma Rainiers for first place. The team that finishes first will face the Sugar Land Space Cowboys for the Pacific Coast League championship starting Sept. 24.
The Aviators will have to make their push without one of their most trusted bullpen arms, at least for now.
“(Holman) has been a rock down there at the back end since he’s been here,” Riordan said. “He has the trust of myself, the trust of the staff and the trust of the players to go out there and close the door on games that are close and games that we’re winning late.”
The Aviators would love to have Holman on their roster to help them make a run. But they understand the nature of Triple-A baseball, as well as the priceless opportunity he’s earned.
“It’s a part of Triple-A,” Riordan said. “The guys who have come up from Midland or come down from Oakland, they buy in and are ready to compete.”
Contact Danny Webster at dwebster@reviewjournal.com. Follow @DannyWebster21 on X.