Holdzkom Calls Demotion 'Part Of The Journey'
PITTSBURGH (93-7 The Fan) - Last year, John Holdzkom was one of the best stories in all of baseball.
Tuesday morning, the righty reliever found out he's heading to Triple-A. What really worked against the 6-foot-7-inch reliever was that he had options left and could be moved without cutting someone.
"I knew it was a possibility. It doesn't make it any more fun," Holdzkom said. "They have some good arms down there right now."
The Independent League team, Sioux Falls Canaries, released Holdzkom to start his 2014 season. Eventually, signed by the Pirates as a free agent on June 23, Holdzkom pitched four games with Double-A Altoona before being sent to Triple-A Indianapolis. There, he struck out 27 batters in 21 2-3 innings.
Holdzkom was called up by the Pirates on Sept. 2, and immediately faced the eventual N.L. Central Division Champion Cardinals and struck out all three batters he faced.
In Holdzkom's first eight appearances, he went eight innings, allowed no runs, 2 hits, 2 walks and struck out 12.
"I'm just going to try and look at like another part of my career, it's not going to define me," Holdzkom said. "Just going to keep working, it's part of the journey."
"You never hope for someone to get injured, obviously, but I don't think anyone has ever finished the season with the same 25 they started the season with," the 27-year-old said. "There are lots of roster moves on every team that are made, we'll see if I'm one of them."