On April 1, 2014, the Mario Hollands Era began. The 25-year-old lefty specialist entered the ninth inning of a tie game between the Phillies and Texas Rangers. It was his job to keep the tie, so maybe the Phils could swipe the lead from Texas in extra innings.
Hollands walked Shin-Soo Choo. Then he walked Prince Fielder. Then he left the game. Then the Phillies lost.
Hollands had a mediocre 2014 season with the Phils, going 2-2 with a 4.40 ERA, 35 strikeouts and 21 walks. Then he suffered an elbow injury forcing him to have Tommy John surgery. He came back to the organization last year but couldn’t find his way back to Philadelphia.
After putting up a 4.15 ERA in Reading (more importantly walking 12 in 13 innings), Hollands was let go Tuesday by the Phillies.
His exit was forced by the demotion of Colton Murray from Lehigh Valley to Reading, which was forced by the demotion of Nick Pivetta from Philadelphia to Lehigh Valley, which was forced by the return of Aaron Nola to Philadelphia.
That’s how it goes in baseball. You have maybe one shot to stay in the majors, one shot to show you’re worth being on a 25-man roster.
Yup. Just one shot. That’s really true.
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