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Rangers Notes: Left-Hander Derek Holland Going To Bullpen, At Least For Now

ANAHEIM, Calif. -LHP Derek Holland may be the Rangers’ most exciting starting pitching prospect in years, but for now, the club will send Holland back to the bullpen.

Manager Ron Washington said Tuesday that Holland’s turn in the rotation would be skipped this time through and that he will probably remain in the bullpen throughout the final week of the first half. RHP Dustin Nippert moved into the rotation Tuesday and would probably pitch Sunday’s first-half finale at Seattle. Washington said the Rangers would re-evaluate the starting rotation at the All-Star break.

Holland, 2-5 with a 6.18 ERA, picked up his first win as a starter on Saturday when he went six innings against Tampa Bay. He is, however, just 1-4 with a 6.23 ERA as a starter and has struggled to find a balance in his mix of pitches. He has relied heavily on his fastball and teams have teed off on it the second and third times through the lineup.

“He is still a work in progress,” Washington said of Holland. “I think he’s been very effective as a reliever and he’s had some good moments as a starter. He’s a future starters, but right now, in this stretch, he helps us more in the bullpen. He definitely needs his secondary stuff. You can’t fool too many guys with just a solid fastball.”

The potential problem in trying to develop Holland in the bullpen is that relievers don’t have many pitches to warm up and can’t afford to fiddle around with a particular pitch that is not working during an outing. Most relievers use two pitches  – a fastball and either a breaking pitch or a changeup.

Washington said he expects Holland to be able to address those issues in the bullpen. Holland would be available on Wednesday to pitch in long relief, if needed.

“He’s just not totally polished with that stuff,” Washington said. “Of his secondary pitches, I think the changeup is the best, but he’s going to have to develop the curve and the slider. He can do that in the bullpen. I’m content using him in whatever role helps make us a better team.”

Borbon to minors, McCarthy to 60-day DL: As we conjectured yesterday, the Rangers optioned OF Julio Borbon to Triple-A Oklahoma City and moved RHP Brandon McCarthy from the 15-day DL to the 60-day list to make room on the active roster for RHP Dustin Nippert.

McCarthy, who has been on the DL for a month, still hasn’t started a significant throwing program. He wasn’t likely to be ready until August – at the earliest. This move means he’d be eligible for reinstatement on August 4.

Borbon started only one game during his week in the majors. He will go back to Triple-A Oklahoma City and continue to play center field and bat leadoff. Manager Ron Washington did say he considers Borbon a more legitimate long-term leadoff option than SS Elvis Andrus. The Rangers would love to eventually stick Ian Kinsler’s power in a run-producing spot.

Day off for Kinsler? It appears INF Omar Vizquel is over a bout of shoulder soreness that had left him unavailable for much of the last week. His availability might make it easier for Washington to give Kinsler a day off before the end of the first half. Kinsler went into Tuesday’s game in a 2-for-26 slump since June 30. Both hits were homers. He flied out in his first at-bat Tuesday.