Derek Holland is nearing a return for the Texas Rangers.
The 27-year-old left-handed starter, who has missed the entire 2014 campaign while recovering from knee surgery, was scratched from his scheduled rehab start Sunday, but manager Ron Washington didn’t see it as a major setback, via ESPNDallas.com’s Calvin Watkins:
Just back spasms. Just got to see how long it takes. He’s supposed to throw Sunday and (we’ll) see how long it takes (to recover). If the doctor gives him clearance, he’ll be able to still get a start. If not, then it will just have to adjust, just go day-to-day and see.
He will in fact get another rehab start before September call-ups, as the Fort Worth Star-Telegram‘s Jeff Wilson noted:
Holland probably won’t help Texas make up 27 games in the AL West, but it will certainly be good for the team to get some starts out of him before the 2015 season.
Signed through 2016 with club options for 2017 and 2018, he is a big part of the team’s future. If he regains his form from last season when he finished with a 3.42 ERA, 1.29 WHIP and 189 strikeouts in 213.0 innings, it will be a really positive sign for the Rangers’ rotation moving forward.
Either way, it will just be nice to see him back on the mound after the lengthy absence.
Contract info via Cot’s Baseball Contracts.
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