Pirates Manager Explains Colin Holderman Decision

PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh Pirates relief pitcher Colin Holderman had another bad outing in the most recent defeat to the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodgers Stadium.

Holderman came in for his first MLB appearance in more than three weeks, after spending time on the Injured List and working through a rehab assignment at Triple-A Indianapolis.

He came in at the bottom of the eighth inning, with the score tied at 4-4 and faced Dodgers right fielder Teoscar Hernández.

Holderman threw a breaking ball that ended up in the middle of the plate, allowing Hernández to put a great swing through it, sending it into the left field seats for the go-ahead home run, with the Dodgers taking a 5-4 lead.

GO AHEAD, TEOSCAR! pic.twitter.com/kXQgXBiUY3
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) April 27, 2025

He stayed in after that home run and allowed double to second baseman Tommy Edman and walked catcher Will Smith, with the Dodgers having two base runners on with no outs.

Pirates manager Derek Shelton would take Holderman off and put in left-handed pitcher Joey Wentz, who would give up a three-run home run to Dodgers pinch-hitter Enrique Hernández, who settled the 8-4 victory for the home team.

Holderman finished with three earned runs and no outs, and the Pirates missed out on a chance to win the series.

Shelton spoke after the game about the decision and said that both right-handed pitchers Dennis Santana and David Bednar needed rest, having pitched the game before and that he believed in Holderman to get it done.

“Yeah we had a right lane," Shelton said. "I mean, [Dennis] Santana was down today. [David] Bednar’s been three of four. We’re in a situation where, you know, we thought we had the lane we liked and we didn’t execute pitches.”

Bednar did warm up, but Shelton said that he made the decision to bring in Holderman, and that a different scenario may have lead to another pitcher.

“No it was just a decision by me," Shelton said. "There were different decisions made depending on what the score was.”

Holderman had pitched poorly in 2025, with a 9.64 ERA over 4.2 innings of work in five appearances, allowing six hits, four walks and five earned runs prior to his time on the Injured List, which featured him in many leverage situations.

He allowed two runs in the eighth inning after the Pirates led 4-2 on Opening Day on March 27 and a solo home run on March 30, tying things up at 2-2 in the seventh inning, both games the Pirates lost.

Holderman came in vs. the Tampa Bay Rays up 3-1 in bottom of the eighth inning on April 2. He walked Rays shortstop Taylor Walls, got a ground out moving Walls to second base and then allowed a single to center fielder Jonny DeLuca, scoring Walls and making it 3-2.

He bounced back with a strikeout, but Pirates manager Derek Shelton took him out for left-handed pitcher Ryan Borucki, who got the final out, helping his team ensure a 4-2 victory.

Holderman made his last appearance out of the bullpen vs. the New York Yankees on April 5 at PNC Park. He came into a difficult situation, with no outs and two runners on after starting pitcher Bailey Falter allowed a three-run home run earlier in the fifth inning.

He would hit Yankees right fielder Aaron Judge, loading the bases. He struck out second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr., but then allowed a bases-clearing double to shortstop Anthony Volpe, giving the road team an 8-4 lead.

Holderman has only had one appearance this season where he didn't give up a run, as he pitched a scoreless ninth inning against the Marlins on March 29.

Shelton wanted Holderman in that situation, as he's had that experience before and that they needed someone in the bullpen to come through.

“Well, he’s pitched in those situations before," Shelton said on Holderman. "That’s the thing. He’s pitched in leverage and again, today, with where we were at in our bullpen, that’s a lane that we liked and he just didn’t get it done.”

Holderman had only come back recently from Indianapolis, which is similar to Bednar, who came back last weekend from Triple-A and has pitched four scoreless innings in four outings.

Shelton would've liked to give Holderman a better opportunity for his first game back, but constraints on the bullpen put Holderman in the position he faced vs. the Dodgers.

"Yeah, sometimes you can’t, with who you have available," Shelton said. "You know, if you do it in a vacuum and you look at everybody, how it is, you can live in that world, but when you have certain people available, you have to make decisions.”

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