In a lost season, the Texas Rangers have to grasp for things to look forward to, and one of those has long been the return of Derek Holland from off-season knee surgery.
It's taken a bit longer than planned, but now there seems to be a return in sight.
Holland, who tripped over his dog and fell down some stairs in January, underwent microfracture surgery on his knee and was hoping to be back by June 1. That didn't happen. Then, he was hoping to be back right after the all-star break. Turns out, he will be, but it'll be with Triple-A Round Rock, not the Rangers.
Holland is scheduled to make his first rehab start on July 23, and the thought is he'd need at least four rehab starts. If that's all he requires, it would put him back in the Rangers' rotation by mid-August. However, the Rangers will want to be very careful with Holland and be sure he's 100 percent ready to roll. The positive thing is, this isn't an arm injury.
They would like to see Holland get a handful of starts in this season and get back in the routine after he was projected as the team's No. 2 starter this season before becoming the first of several key injuries to the team.
