Holland's finish for Rangers 'bothered the crap out' of him
Derek Holland didn't get too many opportunities to pitch in 2015 after spending most of the year on the disabled list with shoulder issues, so every start meant something to the 29-year-old, and he wasn't pleased with how he finished out the season with the Texas Rangers.
"Just the way the season ended, you know, I was very upset with it," the left-hander said in an interview on KRLD-FM (105.3) The Fan, according to The Dallas Morning News. "I didn't do my job and that's really what I felt upset about, and it really bothered the crap out of me because I'm a hard worker, I care about my teammates, I care about my team, and to have it finish the way it did, I felt like it was a letdown for myself. I was very disappointed in that, but at the end of the day, it did fuel the fire and I'm looking forward to this next season.
After returning from a five-month layoff, Holland pitched well, even earning a complete-game shutout in just this third start back. Though, a poor September led to one horrendous postseason start in the American League Division Series against the Toronto Blue Jays. The bad outing drew joy from Toronto fans who were unhappy with the southpaw after an incident with a towel.
Holland, though, believes that staying healthy and pitching to his capabilities will prove these and any other disbelievers wrong.
"I'm getting out there and my main goal, obviously is - I like to joke about and I'm sure the fans always want to make these - well, not the fans, I should say the 'haters' like to make these comments of, 'well, why don't you try to stay healthy?' If it was that easy, everybody would do it. Everybody would be doing it. My goal is just to get out there, prepare myself, get ready to go, and get back to being Derek the way I was before."
Holland owned a 4-3 record with a 4.91 ERA and 1.30 WHIP across 10 starts in 2015.