Derek Holland entered Sunday at 4-7 with a 5.60 ERA in 82 innings, but hurled a complete-game shutout against the Angels, striking out eight with just one walk and three hits. Holland also had a near-complete game against the Mariners last week, striking out 10, walking one, and allowing two hits in 8.2 innings of one-run ball, so the 22-year-old southpaw may be on the verge of a sustained breakout. According to Baseball America he was Texas’ second-best prospect behind only Neftali Feliz coming into the season and Holland has a strong 77/30 K/BB ratio in 91 innings. His biggest problem has been serving up 14 homers and keeping the ball in the ballpark could be a career-long struggle in Texas, but he induces quite a few grounders, misses plenty of bats with mid-90s heat, and has ace upside. While the Rangers break in extremely promising young pitching during a pennant race, here are some other notes from around baseball ...
* Not only was Matt Palmer demoted to the bullpen last month despite going 8-1 in a dozen starts, he’s being passed over in favor of 22-year-old prospect Trevor Bell with the Angels needing a fill-in starter Wednesday versus the Rays. Palmer was nowhere near as good as his record suggests and has posted a putrid 55/42 K/BB ratio in 91.2 innings overall, but it’s still surprising to see Bell get the nod. Bell is certainly a quality prospect and the former first-round pick has a 2.70 ERA in 22 starts between Double-A and Triple-A this season, but 87 strikeouts in 140 innings and a modest ground-ball rate make him highly unlikely to have that kind of success in the majors. He could have some AL-only value if he sticks around, but Tampa Bay is a very tough first assignment and his upside is limited. * Junichi Tazawa’s big-league debut involved coming into a 0-0 game in the 14th inning and serving up a walk-off homer to Alex Rodriguez at Yankee Stadium, so replacing John Smoltz in the rotation Tuesday should be a relative piece of cake. Detroit is a favorable first matchup, because the Tigers rank 10th in the league in OPS against right-handers, but Tazawa isn’t a viable mixed-league option yet. AL Quick Hits: Scott Kazmir failed to make it out of the fifth inning Sunday, giving up seven runs for the fourth time in 10 starts ... Roy Halladay picked up his 12th win Sunday by tossing at least eight innings for the 10th time in 22 starts ... Jake Westbrook had a setback in his recovery from Tommy John elbow surgery and is now unlikely to pitch this season ... Michael Cuddyer went 4-for-5 with a pair of homers Sunday, giving him eight long balls since July 1 ... Brian Matsutz had a rough second career outing Sunday, getting chased in the third inning ... Marco Scutaro went 4-for-5 with a career-high 10th homer Sunday ... Brett Cecil won’t make his next start after an MRI revealed two small tears in his left knee, but is hoping to avoid the disabled list ... Jarrod Washburn struggled Sunday and has now allowed 11 runs in two Tigers starts ... Brett Anderson has allowed just 13 runs in his last eight outings after another Quality Start on Sunday. NL Quick Hits: Aaron Harang snapped a streak of seven straight losses Sunday by beating Matt Cain ... Johan Santana is tied for the NL lead with 13 wins after throwing eight innings of one-run ball Sunday ... Milwaukee acquired setup man David Weathers from Cincinnati for a player to be named later ... Josh Johnson held the Phillies to one run over seven innings Sunday as the Marlins completed a three-game sweep ... Wandy Rodriguez returned from a hamstring injury with seven shutout innings Sunday ... Chris Coghlan extended his multi-hit streak to eight games with four knocks Sunday ... Tim Stauffer lowered his ERA to 2.90 by allowing one run in five innings Sunday, but fell to 1-4 ... Jason Hammel won Sunday despite surrendering 11 hits in five innings ... Adam Rosales was 3-for-4 with a homer Sunday while subbing for Scott Rolen (concussion) ... Aaron Cook will miss Tuesday’s start with turf toe, but hopes to take his turn Saturday.