Trenton, New Jersey - Brad Holt may have had some injury issues to start the season, but it's not affected his comfort level. His confidence and command are there.
"The fastball command. It doesn't take much to get that back. It's kind
of like riding a bike," Holt said. "So having that command back, that's my main
pitch. That's there and now it's just about improving my off-speed [pitches]."
It's been a tough start of the season for Holt, with a wrist injury that sent him to the DL. He's 0-3, including one start where he gave up five runs in one inning, ballooning his ERA to 10.95. But it's a process. Holt is doing his work and slowly improving.
"The first outing I came back I felt
good, the fastball command was there and I was keeping everything down
in the zone," Holt said. "The change-up and curveball I didn't really have a feel
for. Last outing I was throwing everything for strikes and getting ahead
in counts."
Holt throws a plus-curveball and a solid fastball, but he's been working on getting the feeling back for the change-up, a pitch that's been effective for him lately.
"One thing that's
happened over the last two or three weeks is his changeup has become a
lot better," said Binghamton hitting coach Mark Brewer. "He's been working on it hard and we've been working on
it together in the bullpen. And it's come a long way. As a matter of fact
in his last outing, it was the pitch that was able to upset the timing
of the hitters."
Though it can take some time to get secondary pitches working early in the season, and the changeup is a pitch that can come along slowly, Holt agrees that it's working well for him in a lot of situations. He'd actually had it, then felt he'd lost it.
"In Spring Training I felt like I had everything working. Then I
had the setback at the beginning of the season, and the big thing I was
having trouble with was finding the change-up," Holt said. "But I continued to toss
it in my bullpen. In my last bullpen and start, I felt I was getting it
where it needed to be. I wouldn't say it's as fine-tuned as it was in
Spring Training, but it's close."
The curveball continues to be the pitch that he can go to when he needs to throw a strike.
"His curveball is his out pitch. If he
needs to punch somebody out, that's the pitch," said Brewer.
Holt agrees, but also feels he can mix things up a little to get a hitter out.
"The curveball for the most part is my out pitch. Usually it depends.
Fastball or curve ball, yeah," Holt said.
It's difficult to project what the Mets might do with the 23-year-old in the near future, though a 2010 debut doesn't appear in the cards. He could see a promotion to Buffalo at some point this season. Getting his innings in essential. Holt threw 58 innings in 2009, finishing the season at Binghamton with a 6.29 ERA. He'd done well at Port St. Lucie, going 4-1 with a 3.12 ERA. According to Brewer, he still needs a lot of work to be able to go deep in games.
"At this point, he's
still building up," Brewer said. "Once he's able to command all three pitches, there's
no doubt in my mind that he can go out and complete 6,7,8 innings if his
command is where it should be."
Holt was drafted in 2008 and has been a starter his entire career, but Brewer doesn't rule out the possibility that Holt could be a future reliever.
"Right now he has to continue to be a starter, in order to work out
the flaws he has from the standpoint of command. In the future, he
definitely has the stuff to be a power guy out of the bullpen," Brewer said. "It hasn't
really been talked about up to this point, because we're so focused on
him being able to complete all his work as a starter. As soon as he's
able to adjust from the flight of the ball, then we may think about
something else with him."
Two of Binghamton's four catchers on their roster, Luke Montz and Omir Santos, are on the DL. Of Lucas Duda and Kirk Nieuwenhuis, Nieuwenhuis is the only one that's caught Holt. For a developing pitcher who's had an up and down start, getting comfortable with the rotation of catchers might seem difficult.
"It's different throwing to each guy. They have their own game plan. And
it just takes some time," Holt said. "I haven't thrown to any of these guys except
for Nieuwenhuis and Montz caught me the first two games I was back. The big
thing for the catcher is getting a feel for you and what you're
strengths are, and your positives and weaknesses. It doesn't affect my game plan."
The game plan for the team is to get Holt to the spot they feel he's capable of. And there's already a lot of faith in his ability to possibly anchor a rotation.
"He's got the stuff to
be a 1-3," Brewer said. "All we have to do is work on it, sharpen it up and hone down
the rough edges."
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