Giving up 10 hits in a start isn't indicative of having ace material.
But what have we said about Yu Darvish a couple of times this year? Despite not having his best stuff he fights through starts and gets Ws, often times stopping a Rangers' losing streak.
On Wednesday night, Derek Holland did the same thing for the Rangers, working seven innings and allowing just one run despite giving up 10 hits on the night. The key to his start was the fact that he walked no one and was able to pitch his way out of jams.
As for that ace stuff? Darvish is the Rangers' stud — their horse atop the rotation, and there's really no argument there. But you might be surprised to learn that it's, in fact, Holland who has the best ERA of the Rangers' starting pitchers with a 2.54 ERA to go with his 3-2 record.
He entered Wednesday's start coming off his best start of the season, to date, last Friday night against the red-hot Boston Red Sox, when he struck out nine while working eight scoreless innings. And while he wasn't quite as sharp on Wednesday, he still got the job done and stopped the Rangers' losing streak at two games.
With Matt Harrison expected to be the Rangers' No. 2 pitcher this season, things went south for him in a hurry after two poor starts when he was put on the DL and ended up needing two back surgeries. He won't be back until most likely sometime in August, and who knows what the Rangers will get from him when he does come back. But if Holland keeps this up and can resemble the Holland of the second half of 2011, when he was one of the game's top hurlers, the Rangers will have their No. 2 pitcher.
