Something has seriously clicked for Derek Holland in the month of June. Through his first 11 starts of 2018, Holland posted a rather mediocre 4.94 ERA. In his five starts since that time, Holland has been lights out, posting a 2.70 ERA while striking out 31 in 26.2 innings. The run culminated in arguably Holland’s most impressive start of the season in Tuesday’s win over the Rockies, holding the potent Colorado offense to a single run in 6 and 2/3 innings while fanning eight.
All of the sudden, Holland looks to have a permanent spot in the Giants’ rotation, even with the returns of Johnny Cueto and Jeff Samardzija looming. Giants broadcaster Mike Krukow joined Murph & Mac on Wednesday morning, and broke down what he thinks had led to Holland’s improvement.
“I think he’s one of those guys that has hit the comfort zone in the clubhouse in order to hit the comfort zone on the field,” Krukow said. “He’s a real good people person, and he’s kind’ve got a little bit of an act to him. When you first hear his sense of humor you’re kind’ve like ‘What? What did he say?’ And then gradually he kind’ve makes his way into the clubhouse and hits the comfort zone, and that’s when he started taking off.
“I mean he got eight strikeouts last night with a John Tumpane strike zone, and a John Tumpane strike zone is about as big as a toilet seat. It’s not big and there are no corners. So that to me is impressive.
“Being able to command all of his pitches in fastball counts. You have to really be able to do that against the Rockies. I mean they can lay in the bushes and beat you on a fastball as good as anybody in the game. And you have to get your specialty pitches over, so for the him the curveball and the slider and the changeup, I mean he was throwing those in every count, and doing it out of the stretch. Just really taking control of the rhythm of the game, both with men on base and facing guys at the plate. Very cool victory for him.”
Listen to the full interview below. To hear Krukow on Holland, start from 1:40.