John Holdzkom was a needle in the haystack for the Pittsburgh Pirates last year. On June 24th of last season, the Pirates signed Holdzkom out of an independent baseball league to a minor league contract. The move went unnoticed, but by July 5th, Holdzkom was pitching in Triple-A and by September 2nd, Holdzkom was recalled and was pitching with the big league squad. In nine innings of work last season, Holdzkom had a 2.00 ERA, 0.67 WHIP, and 14 strikeouts in just nine innings of work. His story gained national attention and he was in the running for a bullpen spot at the start of 2015.
Where’s John Holdzkom and why isn’t he on the big league squad yet?
