It’s not getting any better for Greg Holland

May 23, 2018

St. Louis Cardinals – Mike Matheny continued his quest to get Greg Holland right on Tuesday when he called on the righty in the top of the ninth to keep the Cardinals down by just two. Holland failed to even record an out, allowing a walk and three singles as the Royals pushed their lead to 5-1. After the game, Matheny said that the issues don’t appear to be injury-related, and he seemed to mostly feel bad for Holland. They’ll keep trying to find spots for him to pitch and regain his old form, but those spots aren’t likely to be when the Cardinals have a lead. With Matt Bowman, Luke Gregerson and Tyler Lyons all on the DL, Sam Tuivailala is probably the best bet to get the ball to Jordan Hicks and Bud Norris. Lefty Brett Cecil should also grab some holds if the matchups are right.

Updated hierarchy: Norris | Hicks | Tuivailala.

Baltimore Orioles — Last time we checked in with the Orioles, Darren O’Day was moving closer to a return from the DL. Well, that’s taking longer than the Orioles thought. O’Day had a catch yesterday and will throw a bullpen today. Hopefully for Baltimore, O’Day’s bullpen goes well and he is back sometime this week.

Hierarchy remains: Brach | Givens | Bleier.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
Today
1. Jeremy Jeffress – Corey Knebel has pitched in two straight games and Josh Hader tossed 30 pitches over two innings on Tuesday.

Tomorrow
1. Joe Kelly – Craig Kimbrel threw 33 pitches on Tuesday, so he may get Thursday off if he has another lengthy outing on Wednesday.
2. Josh Hader/Jeremy Jeffress – If Knebel gets the call on Wednesday, it’s very unlikely he’d pitch on a fourth straight day.
3. Juan Nicasio – Should Edwin Diaz pitch on Wednesday, that will be two straight and three of four.