The Giants are moving pitcher Derek Holland to the bullpen, and he doesn't sound thrilled.
Giants manager Bruce Bochy told reporters Saturday at Oracle Park after the Giants' 5-4 loss to the Cincinnati Reds that the left-hander would not start Wednesday. Holland questioned the decision during a postgame interview, but he doesn't believe it came from San Francisco's skipper.
"To be honest, I have no idea what they're doing," Holland told reporters (h/t KNBR). "I don't mean that by Boch and them, it's more from the front office. We keep changing a lot of things. I did a fake injury, so I'm not happy about that. But at the end of the day, I'm going to do whatever they ask me to do."
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Holland was placed on the injured list on April 29 with what the Giants said was a bone bruise in his left index finger. Prior to his time on the IL, Holland was 1-5 with a 5.34 ERA in 32 innings pitched over six appearances. In his lone appearance after returning from the IL, Holland was shelled for seven earned runs in 2.2 innings against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field on Thursday.
Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi told the San Francisco Chronicle's Henry Schulman on Saturday that Holland's finger injury dated to spring training, and that the team "felt it would be prudent to give him the time off."
“His use of the word ‘fake’ probably comes from him feeling he could continue to pitch with it," Zaidi told the Chronicle. "Players and the staff and front-office people sometimes have differences of opinion when they should or shouldn’t play."
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San Francisco Giants
Perhaps one of the changes Holland was referring to involves how the Giants start games. NBC Sports Bay Area's Alex Pavlovic reported Saturday that the Giants' front office has had "serious" discussions about using openers, and the strategy remains a distinct possibility. San Francisco has been outscored 40-3 in first innings, and allowed 16 home runs.