Mets' Colin Holderman has a pair of fans in Buck Showalter, Adam Ottavino
Mets relief pitcher Colin Holderman reacts after he struck out Cardinals first baseman Paul Goldschmidt to end an MLB game at Citi Field on May 18. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
SAN FRANCISCO — The greatest compliment in these opening days of Colin Holderman’s major-league career wasn’t something Buck Showalter said so much as it was something he did.
He was great in the seventh and eighth innings of what became the Mets’ blowout win over the Giants on Monday. The manager could have left him in for the ninth, which would have meant a save for the righthanded reliever, which would have been cool, Holderman said. But Showalter pulled him for the sake of having him available again sooner, instead of letting him throw more and therefore be out of action for several days.
Holderman was too important to pitch that last inning of not-very-close contest.
“It made me feel amazing,” Holderman said. “They wanted me ready for [another game]. If I would’ve gone three, that probably would’ve shut me down out the series. Whatever he says goes. He’s the boss. Good idea.”
Since getting called up for the first time on May 15, Holderman has confirmed the conclusions Mets decision-makers drew during spring training, specifically that he is someone who “has a chance to be a helper,” as Showalter put it. He has not allowed an earned run across six innings (five appearances), striking out seven batters and walking one.
Along the way he has pitched in a couple of spots that weren’t all high-leverage but were more interesting than might be expected for a newbie. That includes when he picked up the win against the Cardinals on May 19, getting through the 10th inning giving up just an unearned run. And Showalter put him in to protect what was a four-run lead over San Francisco on Monday.
Holderman isn’t in the late-inning circle of trust yet. But he is loitering somewhere on the periphery, waiting to see if the door opens or if he can sneak in the back when someone else is leaving the party.
“That’s the goal. If I just keep doing what I’m doing, I’m hoping at some point that will happen,” he said. “I have the confidence and the stuff to do it. It’s a prove-it game now. Keep doing it on a daily basis and see what happens.”
Adam Ottavino said: “There’s no better feeling than knowing you did your job on a winning day and you’re not waiting for a loss to pitch. Your confidence can go up really fast. If you get four or five good ones in a row, you start to feel really good about yourself.”
Although he said he talks to all of his teammates, “no matter how young they are,” Ottavino has been something of a mentor to Holderman, according to Holderman, talking shop when they’re in the bullpen and reviewing outings after Holderman pitches.
Ottavino, who didn’t establish himself as a big-leaguer until 26, the age Holderman is now, sees some similarities in their paths. But he mostly just wants to make sure Holderman is ready for the rigors of life in the majors, where the workload is heavier and less predictable than the safe, scripted minor-league environment in which wins and losses don’t matter as much.
“That could be the biggest adjustment for a guy who all of a sudden is sort of pitching with reasonable scores of the game,” Ottavino said. “There might be a stretch where he pitches three [days] out of four or three out of five, so that’s new. Just making sure he has his head wrapped around it and has his routine nailed down. You don’t want anything like that to be an issue."
Advice means something coming from Ottavino, the Mets’ most veteran and accomplished reliever.
“You don’t have a career like his and not be very smart,” Holderman said. “Whenever he talks, I listen.”
And whenever Holderman pitches, the Mets watch.
“Colin is a guy who caught my eye early in the spring,” Showalter said. “He’s kind of figuring it out as he goes. You take two steps forward, one stop back with those guys, and maybe by some point in the season you have something."
Tim Healey is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. Born on Long Island and raised in Connecticut, Tim has previously worked for the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the Boston Globe and MLB.com. He is also the author of “Hometown Hardball,” a book about minor league baseball in the northeast.
