BRADENTON (93.7 The FAN) - A 78-78 career record and a career ERA of 4.54 would be a welcomed addition to the Pirates rotation, but that might not be where this offseason acquisition of Derek Holland ends up.
Holland talked on the first day of spring training for pitchers and catchers to report about why he chose Pittsburgh.
"Just to get an opportunity to get out there and play. That's the main thing, get that opportunity to redeem myself. I felt like last year wasn't exactly the way I wanted it to go, obviously, numbers wise."
So what did those numbers look like?
Holland spend time with both the Giants and Cubs in 2019 with a 6.08 ERA over 84.1 innings pitched as both a starter and reliever. So which role does he want this year?
"Going into the offseason, I thought for sure I was going to be a reliever. To have that opportunity to possibly get to start, I'm going to try to do the best I can with it. If that doesn't work out for me, I'm going to look at the bullpen as the next chapter in my career."
In order to make starting a reality, Holland told us what he worked on this offseason to try and regain his old form.
"The big thing is, just don't miss down the middle of the plate. Location is always the big thing. Looking back at a lot of my video, I got a little predictable with the fastball, being very fastball happy and stuff, so just being able to use more of my offspeed and just make better adjustments."
Click the audio below to learn more about the Pirates offseason acquisition.