Coming into the 2018 season, I was pretty high on Jonathan Holder. For the most part, Holder rewarded me for my confidence in him, recording a 3.14 ERA (3.04 FIP) over 66.0 frames last year. However, a closer look at his 2018 reveals some worrying trends and details in his profile. Sorry to be such a downer for my first post of 2019, but if Holder wants to continue his success, there’s a few wrinkles in his game that he should address.
Underneath the hood, Holder’s peripheral stats from 2018 read like a pitcher in decline. The three main domains of run prevention are getting strikeouts, limiting walks, and prohibiting dangerous contact, and Holder has slipped in all of them.