Greg Holland shows All-Star self in Rockies debut

Monday, in his Colorado Rockies debut, Greg Holland recorded the 146th save of his career. That’s 57 more than the number of saves of the rest of the bullpen combined.

Not that there are a lot of bullpens stacked with guys who have huge save totals, but there has been some debate about whether or not Holland should step immediately into the closer role for this club and that debate is likely to continue deep into the summer. After all, the Rockies have a sizable list of candidates for the job, three of whom even carried the mantle somewhat comfortably for the team just a year ago. But when it comes to experience getting the final three outs, no one comes close to Holland.

Here the full breakdown for career saves in the Rockies ‘pen:

• Jake McGee: 41
• Adam Ottavino: 11
• Carlos Estevez: 11
• Mike Dunn: 4
• Scott Oberg: 2
• Jordan Lyles: 2
• German Marquez: 0
• Total: 89

Experience isn’t everything but if you were looking for a reason why Holland was named the closer despite having not pitched in a competitive game in over a year, you needn’t look much farther than that. Easing Holland back into such a demanding role so early might make a certain kind of sense but manager Bud Black gave us very early indications that he was looking at him to close right away.

The only question was whether or not his stuff looked as good as it did pre-injury. He has yet to show us 96 or 97 mph, but the average on his fastball is only down about one mph from the last time he was healthy and his slider is still as nasty as ever. His location looked pretty good in Milwaukee as well. He looked every bit the two-time All-Star that he is.

Of course, it’s just one appearance, he got some help on a fantastic defensive play by Nolan Arenado (though who on this team hasn’t?) — and Holland definitely needs to prove he can still close on back-to-back days — but for now it appears as though the Rockies have their closer, and they can be very comfortable with that decision.

It’s Greg Holland’s job to lose … or hold … or save … all the way to a postseason berth.