SAN FRANCISCO — About half an hour after the Giants lost for an 11th straight time, starting pitcher Derek Holland was asked if he has ever experienced something like this. Holland, as politely as he could, reminded a reporter that he played for the 2017 White Sox.
You can understand, then, why he has managed to keep a positive attitude through a season that has taken a sharp turn. The Giants might look lifeless right now, but he was still there in the dugout, ready to grab an Alhambra jug if they could walk the Braves off and end the skid. While this month has taken on a very 2017 Giants feel for most, it has an entirely different meaning to Holland. One year and one week ago, he was released by a 95-loss team.
“It’s night and day right now,” he said. “I was gone already. I was released.”
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A year later, Holland is enjoying a renaissance. He ranks 12th in the National League with a 3.46 ERA. He is 13th in strikeouts. He has thrown his most innings since 2013. The Giants brought Holland in as a non-roster invitee making $2 million and he has turned into a pillar of the rotation.
You could understand if a player had a year like that, looked around at a fourth-place team suffering its worst losing streak in 68 years, and started planning to cash in elsewhere as a free agent. Holland feels the opposite way.
“I love it here,” he said after Wednesday’s 2-1 loss to the Braves.
He hopes to stay, too, although he won’t let any discussions get in the way of a goal to finish strong. Holland said he has no plans to march into the front office and remind decision-makers that he would like to return. He doesn’t feel it’s necessary.
San Francisco Giants
“I think they know. I definitely think they know,” Holland said. “But I’d rather focus on trying to finish strong. If they come to me, they come to me. If they don’t, they don’t. We’ll wait and see once the season ends, but right now I need to focus on continuing to finish strong.”
He certainly is doing so. Holland allowed one run in six innings Wednesday, continuing a run that’s been going for the entire second half. In his last 10 starts, he has allowed more than two runs just twice. He credits Curt Young and Matt Herges for helping him push past a so-so start to the season, making constant adjustments that he has tried to take to the mound.
Wednesday was a continuation of that work, and you don’t have to squint to see a strong rotation forming. If the Giants can bring Holland back with Madison Bumgarner, Dereck Rodriguez and Andrew Suarez, they’ll get a quality start far more often than not. The offense is a disaster zone, and that’s where the front office’s attention will be, but team officials would be smart to first lock up a quality left-hander who has not given up hope despite everything going on around him.
“The thing that I feel is frustrating is we’ve got a damn good team, that’s how I see it,” Holland said. “We are a really good team. Some things just didn’t go our way. If you look at a lot of the games, we were in every one of them. It’s not like somebody just blew us out. There might be a few games here and there, but at the end of the day we were in every game. These guys give everything they’ve got every time out and that’s huge.”