Colin Holderman Has Officially Solidified His Place in Cleveland's Bullpen

Two on. One out.

Erik Sabrowski is teetering on the mound in the bottom of the ninth inning, and the Cleveland Guardians coaching staff knows that they need to make a change. Looking through the available arms in the bullpen, with the game on the line, they call in Colin Holderman.

He has to get out of a pinch, one that, if he doesn't, would stain his nearly untouched recent reputation.

But under the bright lights of Comerica Park, Holderman hangs in there and delivers back-to-back strikeouts, pushing the Guardians into extra innings.

Colin Holderman has been a heckuva addition for the Guardians.

He enters with two on and one out and strikes out two to send this game to the 10th.

He entered today with a 1.56 ERA and a 0.75 WHIP with 19 strikeouts in 17 1/3 innings. pic.twitter.com/ByUtcmjQrP
— Tim Stebbins (@tim_stebbins) May 21, 2026

"I thought, you know, we haven't really seen him in that big of a situation yet, and just thinking, we need a ground ball there with the sinker, and he ended up getting two big punch-outs," Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said postgame. "He's been great, like we've talked about. When he's throwing strikes and he's under control, he's really good, and he did that tonight."

Just a few weeks ago, Holderman was called up to the big leagues following an injury to veteran reliever Shawn Armstrong. The expectation was that Holderman would spend a few weeks with the club, pitch here and there, and then head back down to the minors.

Now, it looks like Holderman is going to be one of Cleveland's most trusted high-leverage arms moving forward. Game after game, he's proving that he's one of the go-to options for the coaching staff.

"It means the world to me, especially coming off a year like last year, just getting right, building confidence day by day, and it's got me to a good spot," Holderman said on being trusted to go out there to keep the game in hand in the ninth. "Now we're just keeping it simple."

Across 13 appearances and 18 innings pitched this season, Holderman's posting a 1.50 ERA and 0.72 WHIP with a batting average against of .141. He's only allowed a measly nine hits and three earned runs, walking four batters along the way.

And his punch-out pitch, his heavy-movement sweeper, has been dominant.

"I mean, he's pitched for a while now, and the stuff is real," bench coach Tony Arnerich said just a few weeks ago. "You guys see the stuff coming out of his hand. I mean, it is... a heavy, heavy sinker, and the sweeper, it sweeps man. So when he's in the zone, again, that's kind of a common theme, but when he's attacking, he just suffocates hitters."

Thrown 97 times this season across 27 at-bats, he has allowed just two hits on it while striking out a staggering 13 batters. Batters are only hitting .074 against this pitch.

A pitch does a lot, but what makes a bigger difference is a player's confidence, something that has grown tremendously for Holderman.

"It feels good, you know, especially getting called back from Triple-A, you gotta throw some non-leverage to mop up a little bit to earn some trust back," Holderman said about the trust put in him. "It feels good that they trust me in that situation, and I greatly appreciate it."

Since his return, one that had a major question mark hanging over it, Holderman has welcomed every opportunity he has been given by the Guardians coaching staff. Whether or not it's in a high-leverage spot or just to eat two innings, he steps onto the mound and routinely sends down batters.

With many other arms wavering to start the year, he's provided a sigh of relief as everyone else settles into the long-winded campaign.

And if he keeps this up, closer Cade Smith may have found his new setup arm.

"It's a long season," said Holderman. "You don't ride the highs or the lows. You just kind of try to stay in the middle as much as you can. Obviously, you get dragged up and dragged down a little bit. But tomorrow's just another day."

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