With A Name Like Holderman...

 

I tell you, sometimes things are prone to come together. One of the MLB's leaders in holds this year is a pitcher named Colin Holderman. The man has 27 holds, 2 shy of the league mark, held by Yennier Cano. For a while he was leading the league. It's been a definite breakout year for the second year reliever, and it's clear that the Pirates knew what they were doing when they asked for him specifically in exchange for Dan Vogelbach [and we all know how well that's gone for the Mets]. 

Even if Holderman does, in fact, end up as one of the strongest pieces of the 2023 Pirates, and considering he's one of the few non-rookies on this team that's quite likely, there may not be an aspect of his season more amusing than the fact that he's on the hold leaderboard with a name like Holderman. It's too good.

I went through the rest of the league, and tried to find serendipity in names that worked as well as Holderman. Here are my findings:

Astros: Ten of the fifteen hits that have been credited to Jon Singleton, in his comeback year no less, have been singles.

Blue Jays: As luck would have it there does happen to be a Jay on the Blue Jays this year, namely relief favorite Jay Jackson. There's no one named Blue on this team, though there is a Green [Chad Green] and a White [Mitch White]; neither have had especially great seasons.

Braves: The eldest veteran in the lineup is literally named Pillar. Kevin Pillar, incidentally, has surpassed my expectations as a bench bat. At the same time, the youngest pitcher in the rotation is named Elder. And here I thought all we'd have was an outfielder named Wall.

Cardinals: Well, one of the worst baserunners on the team is named Walker. 

Diamondbacks: Similarly, Walker is also the name of the Arizona batter with the second-most number of walks.

Dodgers: The team's leader in strikeouts as a hitter is James Outman. He literally is the out-man for them at times. 

Giants: This is more of one that makes more sense to me as a 20-something that listens to a lot of music, but when they stole Paul deJong from waivers I was snickering to myself. Heheheh, DeJong the Giant.

Marlins: As discussed, 2 different players named Jesus fish, much like one of those vans you see with multiple 'Jesus fish' magnets.

Nationals: A Washington-based team having players named Adams and Gore is already pretty funny. It is also funny that Jeter Downs comes from a Colombia that doesn't begin with 'District of'. 

Orioles: A frequent inspiration for a post like this is DL Hall, who isn't currently injured but often is. 

Rangers: ...does it count if I say that a guy named Will Smith has 53 punch-outs this year? 

Rays: I mean, call me crass, but a guy named Springs hasn't pitched since before June 21st...

Tigers: The majority of the games infielder Zack Short has played this year have been at shortstop. 

White Sox: Aaron Bummer, while still on a multi-year contract as a reliever, has a 7.00 ERA this season. If that isn't a bummer I don't know what is.

A lot of fun stuff like that this year. Tim Kurkjian, eat your heart out!

Coming Tonight: The A's brought him up as one of their top prospects, and hopefully he'll be this fun over the next few years.