Right-handed reliever Greg Holland will be the Arizona Diamondbacks‘ closer, manager Torey Lovullo said Sunday.
The announcement comes despite Holland’s struggling this spring. He has a 12.27 ERA in 3 2/3 innings pitched.
Right-handers Archie Bradley and Yoshihisa Hirano will be the setup men in front of Holland.
Holland, 33, signed a one-year deal with Arizona this offseason after spending the 2018 season with the St. Louis Cardinals and Washington Nationals and going 2-2 with a 4.66 ERA and three saves in 56 appearances.
Holland didn’t sign with the Cardinals until late March after failing to land a long-term contract, and St. Louis designated the right-hander for assignment, then released him in August after he posted a 7.92 ERA in 25 innings.
Washington picked up Holland to finish the season, and he regrouped with a 0.84 ERA in 21 1/3 innings.
In 2017, Holland saved a National League-tying 41 games for the Colorado Rockies. He bolstered the bullpen with 28 saves in 29 chances and a 1.62 ERA before the All-Star break. But he struggled in the second half, going 2-5 and converting 13 of 16 save chances with a 6.38 ERA. During the NL wild-card game, Holland surrendered two runs.
Before that, with the Kansas City Royals, Holland had a 1.80 ERA in 2011, a 1.21 ERA and 47 saves in 2013, and a 1.44 ERA with 46 saves in 2014. He underwent Tommy John surgery in October 2015 and missed the 2016 season.