Could the Yankees Move Jonathan Holder Back to the Rotation?

New York Yankees righthander Jonathan Holder has had success as both a starter and reliever in his young career. Which role role is he better suited for going forward?

In his recent chat discussing Baseball America’s 2017 New York Yankees Top Ten Prospects list (subscription required), Josh Norris opined that Jonathan Holder, who got his first taste of big league action this September as a reliever, could be moved to the rotation this year because of his solid four-pitch repertoire.

Selected in the sixth round of the 2014 draft as a closer with Mississippi State, Holder split his time between starting and relief during his first professional action with the Yankees Gulf Coast League affiliate and short-season Staten Island.

Things went well enough that Holder was converted to the rotation full time in 2015. He spent most of his time that season with the High-A Tampa Yankees, pitching to a 2.44 ERA and 1.094 WHIP in 18 starts, striking out 18.3% of the batters he faced and walking just 6.3%.

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It’s hard to argue with New York’s decision to move Holder back to the pen this season knowing how successful he was, but the move was still a strange one considering how good he looked as a starter the previous year. Still, Holder struck out 42.4% of the batters he faced in the minor leagues this year while putting up a sparkling 1.65 ERA in 65.1 IP split between the three highest levels of the system.

His incredible performance earned him a September call up, but unfortunately he didn’t prove as dominant against more advanced competition. The 23-year-old allowed five earned runs and four free passes in his 8.1 innings of work, and never really earned the trust of Yankees manager Joe Girardi. He’s probably in the mix for a bullpen job next spring, but didn’t do much to separate himself from the team’s huge collection of young arms.

Using Holder as a reliever downplays what may be his biggest strength as a pitcher, which is the depth of his arsenal. Out of the bullpen, he uses just his low-90’s fastball and looping curve, neither of which are overwhelming. As a starter, Holder can also mix in a big league quality slider and changeup. He’s a finesse guy who changes speeds and relies on plus control, making his move to relief kind of puzzling.

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New York is looking to add rotation depth this winter, but they may have a solid Triple-A option sitting right under their nose. Holder threw 73.2 innings this season, so they could conceivably stretch him out to roughly 120 frames for next year, maybe giving him a few spot starts in the Bronx if all goes well.