Watch: Derek Holland Strikes Out Side in Debut

Former Texas Rangers pitcher Derek Holland returned to pro baseball Wednesday night in the independent Atlantic League.

The 2023 pitching debut of Derek Holland couldn’t have gone much better.

The former Texas Rangers fan favorite struck out the side for the York Revolution in his one full inning of work Wednesday night. Holland, 36, officially signed with the Atlantic League club based in Pennsylvania earlier in the day.

Holland helped the Revolution hold on for a 6-5 win over the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs. He got one out in the sixth in relief before staying on in the seventh and mowing down three straight Crabs.

Holland, nicknamed “Dutch Oven,” announced his return to baseball this week on Twitter, saying: “I just don’t want to look back and say, ‘What if?’”

The return to pro baseball had been in the works for some time. In the offseason, the lefty threw for MLB scouts in Arlington along with former Rangers teammate Cole Hamels.

Holland didn’t pitch in Majors in 2022, though he spent time in both Toronto Blue Jays and Boston Red Sox organizations. His last MLB season was 2021, going 3-2 with a 5.07 ERA for the Detroit Tigers.

Holland spent eight years with the Rangers starting in 2009, going 62-50 with a 4.35 ERA. In 2011, he led the American League with four shutouts and went 16-5 as the Rangers reached their second consecutive World Series.

In his Revolution debut, Derek Holland strikes out the side in the top of the 7th!🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/7i3cto6OpA

— York Revolution (@yorkrevolution) May 25, 2023

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