SURPRISE, Ariz. — Derek Holland loves hearing from ex-opponents lately.
“Listening to some of these guys that I’ve played against, they say that it looks like the old me for the most part,” Holland said Tuesday night.
The “old” Holland was a reliable workhorse for the Texas Rangers a few years ago. Whether he will be a “new” Giant on Opening Day remains to be seen, but the left-hander felt like he closed his case for a roster spot with four more solid innings against the Kansas City Royals at Surprise Stadium.
“I feel like I made a very good impression. I feel like I showed a lot of positives,” Holland, 31, said. “Now, it’s just up to these guys.”
Holland gave up three runs Tuesday, including solo homers to Whit Merrifield and Salvador Perez. But he struck out five and walked none. Over 15 innings pitched this spring, he posted a 4.20 ERA with five walks and 18 strikeouts.
Manager Bruce Bochy noted that Holland left some pitches up Tuesday night but said: “What I liked is that he was ahead in the count his whole outing. ”
Holland’s velocity is down to 91-92 mph compared to his 94-95 mph heyday. But he feels like his improving change-up gives him another way to get outs.
Chris Stratton and Ty Blach are the front-runners for the final two rotation spots. But Holland demonstrated potential value as a long man / spot starter, depending how the Giants juggle their roster.
“It’s up to them with what happens next,” Holland said. “I know at the end of the day, I made a very good impression.”
— Holland ran into a hurdle regarding the new MLB pace-of-play rules that will limit each team to six mound visits per game. In the third inning, he and catcher Nick Hundley both sensed they wanted to go away off the plate with a fastball to Salvador Perez.
But they didn’t go far enough off the corner, and Perez blasted a 92 mph fastball out of the park on a 2-2 pitch.
“That’s why I hate that we don’t get to use as many mound visits,” Holland said. “Because that would have been a situation that we talked about. It was a long at bat — foul ball, foul ball. We could have talked about it and who knows what could have happened?”
— Sam Dyson, another former Rangers pitcher, had a tougher night. He gave three runs on three hits and a walk while getting only one out. Merrifield and Alcides Escobar touched him for homers, meaning Dyson has given up 10 runs in 6.0 innings this spring.
“Can’t lie: We need him to show the Dyson that we had last year,” Bochy said.
— Jeff Samardzija will throw in a minor league game Wednesday against the Cubs in Mesa. Left-handers Ty Blach and Tony Watson will also throw in a minor league game, on Thursday, at the Giants’ minor league complex in Scottsdale.
— The Giants have lost seven of their past eight games.
