During his first two years at California, Holman had done double-duty as a pitcher and hitter, contributing as a weekend starter and as a first baseman/DH during the shortened 2020 season. The right-hander threw well in the San Diego League this past summer and showed off improved stuff in the fall. Scouts had to wait to see if it carried over to the spring as Holman missed the start of 2021, but came back in late March with similarly electric stuff.
Holman has the chance to have a legitimate four-pitch mix, all coming from a strong, durable build that points to a potential starting pitching profile. He touched 97 mph as a reliever in San Diego, and was 93-97 mph out of the gate this spring for Cal, throwing his fastball with heavy riding life. He already had a live slider and a splitter he uses as his offspeed offering and added a slower 12-to-6 curve that looks like it could be a usable weapon, while the slider and splitter both can miss bats.
All of Holman’s pitches have a lot of action and he has a feel to find the strike zone with all of them. There’s not a lot of track record yet given his split focus, but he is a college arm with some serious upside, one who could climb boards in a hurry as a full-time starter this spring.
Holman spent two years as a two-way player at Cal before narrowing his focus to the mound in 2021. He threw well enough for the A’s to go over slot to sign him in the sixth round of that summer’s Draft. Sent out initially as a starter, Holman missed a lot of time with shoulder and elbow issues over his first two full seasons of pro ball while transitioning to a bullpen role in 2023. He really took off there in 2024, serving as Double-A Midland’s closer to start the year.
Much of Holman’s step forward this season has come simply as a result of being healthy and getting regular reps. He’s always had pretty electric stuff and has finally gotten the opportunity to harness it. It starts with a fastball that sits around 95 mph with excellent life, which misses a good amount of bats. He backs it up with sharp low-80s slider that can also be an out pitch at times, and he still employs a splitter as his changeup, though he doesn’t use it as often as a short reliever.
Holman has long had a bulldog mentality on the bump and likes to attack hitters, something that serves him well in the back end of the bullpen. He also doesn’t have to worry about pinpoint command and the hope is it gives him a better chance of staying on the mound. The 2021 Draft has already produced several big leaguers and prospects -- including current A’s closer Mason Miller -- and it’s not hard to see Holman joining Miller in a setup type role in the near future.
Holman, who once threw a no-hitter in the 2013 Little League World Series, starred as a two-way player at Cal before switching his focus strictly to pitching in 2021. Despite getting a late start to that 2021 college season, his electric stuff upon returning helped him post a 3.83 ERA in 10 starts for the Golden Bears and was enough for the A’s to sign the local product above slot value in the 2021 Draft with a $375,000 bonus as a sixth-round pick. Debuting at Single-A Stockton, he appeared in six games and posted a 4.20 ERA.
Holman comes right at hitters with a four-pitch mix that suits him well as a starter. His fastball sits between 93-97 mph with heavy riding life. He throws a slow 12-to-6 curveball along with a live slider and splitter, both of which have proven to miss bats.
Holman fits the mold of the new profile of pitchers the A’s seem to target in the Draft, with less of an emphasis on being mechanically sound in favor of potentially bringing more upside with pure stuff. His diverse offering of pitches should keep him in a starting role, though his power arm keeps the option of moving him to the bullpen open.
During his first two years at California, Holman did double-duty as a pitcher and hitter, contributing as a weekend starter and as a first baseman/DH during the shortened 2020 season. The right-hander threw well in the San Diego League this past summer and showed off improved stuff in the fall. He missed the start of the 2021 season, but came back initially with similarly electric stuff early and even though it backed up a bit, he showed enough for the A’s to take him in the sixth round and sign him to an over-slot $375,000 bonus.
Holman has the chance to have a legitimate four-pitch mix, all coming from a strong, durable build that points to a potential starting pitching profile. He touched 97 mph as a reliever in San Diego, and was 93-97 mph out of the gate this spring for Cal, throwing his fastball with heavy riding life. He already had a live slider and a splitter he uses as his offspeed offering and added a slower 12-to-6 curve that looks like it could be a usable weapon, while the slider and splitter both can miss bats.
All of Holman’s pitches have a lot of action and he has a feel to find the strike zone with all of them, though his walk rate did climb in 2021. There’s not a lot of track record yet given his split focus, but he is a college arm with some serious upside.
How this works: Every pitch is affected by the forces of gravity,
which means that every pitch drops on its way from the mound to the plate.
These numbers are reported with gravity, which makes them larger and
different than other pitch movement numbers you may have seen. Since gravity
requires time, and slower pitches aren’t ‘better’ just because they have
more time to move, the movement of a pitch is compared to ‘average’ movement
by comparing it to other MLB pitch types within +/- 2 MPH and from within
+/- 0.5 feet of extension and release.
Note: xHR tells how many of this pitcher's home runs allowed would have been out of other stadiums. The "Adjusted" view here accounts for different wall heights, distances and environmental effects using Statcast Park Factor data.
Standard
Year
Team
Avg HR Trot
Actual HR
xHR
HR-xHR
Doubters
Mostly Gone
No Doubters
No Doubter %
2024
26.8
1
0.9
0
1
1
0
0.0
Player
26.8
1
0.9
0
1
1
0
0.0
Note: xHR tells how many of this pitcher's home runs allowed would have been out of other stadiums. The "Standard" view here accounts for different wall heights and distances but excludes environmental effects. It is based purely on the observed trajectory of the hit.
Note: xHR tells how many of this pitcher's home runs allowed would have been out of other stadiums. The "Adjusted" view here accounts for different wall heights, distances and environmental effects using Statcast Park Factor data.
Standard
Year
HR
2024
1
0
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
0
0
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
0
1
1
1
1
1
1
Player
1
0
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
0
0
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
0
1
1
1
1
1
1
Note: xHR tells how many of this pitcher's home runs allowed would have been out of other stadiums. The "Standard" view here accounts for different wall heights and distances but excludes environmental effects. It is based purely on the observed trajectory of the hit.
! Note: Shifts are through the 2022 season, Shaded starting from the 2023 season, Shift:
three or more infielders are on the same side of second base, Shade: positioned outside of
their typical responsible slices of the field. Learn more about
how positioning is defined here
OAK 
