Pirates All 40: Five-Game Stretch Tainted Colin Holderman’s Season

This is one in a series of stories breaking down members of the Pittsburgh Pirates’ 40-man roster.

Colin Holderman had a great start to the 2024 season and a fine finish. A nightmarish five-game stretch in the middle defined the year for the Pittsburgh Pirates’ set-up reliever.

Holderman was scored on in five straight games from July 23-Aug. 7, allowing nine runs in 4.1 innings. He also became the third reliever in franchise history to be the losing pitcher in four straight appearances, joining Elroy Face (1956) and Dan Plesac (1986).

The right-hander’s struggles coincided with the Pirates’ rapid descent from contention. They entered the second half of the season hopeful of reaching the postseason for the first time since 2015.

Holderman had a solid season overall with a 3.15 ERA in 55 games. He struck out 56 in 51.1 innings, though his WHIP was a touch high at 1.305 because of 25 walks. Holderman’s 97.2-mph average fastball velocity was among the 92nd percentile of MLB pitchers.

The up-and-down nature of Holderman’s season can be summarized by this: He had a 0.68 ERA in his first 28 games from April 11-June 22, an 8.22 ERA in 16 games from June 23-Aug. 7 and a 1.93 ERA in 11 games in September.

Holderman’s season started late as he missed nearly two weeks of spring training because of an illness.

He was activated from the injured list on April 11 and gave up two runs in 0.2 against the Philadelphia Phillies that night. Holderman then ran off 11 straight scoreless outings covering 10.1 innings from April 13-May 11 and did not surrender another earned run until May 31 against the Toronto Blue Jays.

Holderman had two more notable scoreless streaks – nine games and an 8.1 innings from June 4-22 and five games and five innings from July 11-24.

Holderman’s season ERA was 1.67 ERA through 39 games. It seemed like he was putting himself in position to be selected to his first All-Star Game in his second full major-league season.

Then things fell apart for Holderman and the Pirates and he landed on the IL with a strained right wrist. Though Holderman recovered in September, the Pirates’ playoff hopes were effectively extinguished, and they finished 76-86 for the second straight season and in last place in the National League Central.

The bounce-back finish by the 29-year-old Holderman likely puts him in position to again be one of the primary set-up relievers for the Pirates in 2025 along with Dennis Santana in front of closer David Bednar. However, the Pirates are looking to add relievers this offseason and Holderman might need good spring training to stay in a high-leverage bullpen role.