San Francisco Giants: Derek Holland designated for assignment

With a pair of new faces set to join the MLB roster on Sunday, Derek Holland has been designated for assignment by the San Francisco Giants.

The San Francisco Giants will welcome prospects Conner Menez and Zach Green to the MLB roster for Sunday’s game.

As a result, two spots needed to be opened up on both the 40-man roster and the 25-man active roster, and the first domino fell on Sunday morning.

Veteran left-hander Derek Holland has been designated for assignment:

As Pavlovic mentioned, he’s been throwing the ball much better of late, so there’s an outside chance that someone will put in a waiver claim and the Giants might be able to net a low-level prospect or save a few bucks.

The 32-year-old Holland is making $7 million this season on a one-year deal that he signed after quietly putting together a solid 2018 campaign with a 3.57 ERA in 171.1 innings of work.

Despite that solid showing last year, he started out his second season in San Francisco with a thud, posting a 6.75 ERA in seven starts before he was relegated to the bullpen.

After some initial struggles in his new relief role, he had posted a 0.68 ERA and 0.83 WHIP in 13.1 innings over the 10 appearances prior to Saturday’s game when he was touched up for four hits and four earned runs with a pair of home runs allowed in his lone inning of work.

Whether he continues on in a relief role or moves back into the starting rotation, Holland still looks capable of eating some innings for a team in need of pitching help.

That said, this move made sense for the San Francisco Giants.

With Menez moving into the starting rotation, Drew Pomeranz was bumped to the bullpen, and the team doesn’t need two left-handed former starters filling long-relief roles.

The other roster moves were as follows:

Jones has been banged up and the emergence of Green made him an easy DFA option. Blach has been bouncing back and forth between Triple-A and the majors this season, so this is just a continuation of that cycle.

The San Francisco Giants have played their way into contention for a wild-card spot, and with Sunday’s roster shuffling, they’re betting on two of their top minor league performers to give them an in-house boost.