But you also know that when Holland is on his game, there are few who can match his stuff on the mound. We have all seen the best of Derek Holland and unfortunately we have all seen the worst of Derek Holland.
But before leaving Rangers camp to head off to play in the World Baseball Classic, Holland decided to remind all of us Rangers fans just how good he can be.
After a first start last week that was mediocre at best, Holland came out and looked like the dominating ace Rangers fans hope he can be, pitching four innings and allowing just three hits while striking out two Indians. Not that impressive you say? Well, just so you know, Cleveland had been perhaps the hottest hitting team in Spring Training up until Thursday.
As an entire pitching staff, Texas only allowed five hits to the Indians, with those five only coming from three different players. Ryan Raburn and Lonnie Chisenhall each had two hits for the Tribe, while Drew Stubbs had the other base hit.
Josh Lindblom took the hill after Holland, followed by Nate Robertson, Coty Woods, Jeff Beliveau and Johan Yan. Those five pitchers only allowed two hits combined (both by Lindblom) and struck out three hitters while walking just two. The combination used on Thursday was a great improvement over the performances of the last few days.
Offensively for Texas, Mitch Moreland led the way, going 2-3 at the plate with a two run home run off of Daisuke Matsuzaka.
Jurickson Profar excited the Surprise crowd with a two RBI triple before a throwing error by Indians second baseman Jason Kipnis allowed him to score on the same play. Nelson Cruz also had two RBI in the game during a 1-4 performance at the plate.
Lance Berkman made his Rangers debut on Thursday, batting in the lead-off spot as the designated hitter. Berkman went 1-2 with a walk and scored two runs.
Ian Kinsler and David Murphy each had a pair of hits for Texas, including a double for each player. Jeff Baker continues to make his case to make the Rangers big league club out of Spring Training, as he had three hits in three at-bats and scored three runs. Baker is now hitting .429 during Spring Training.
Leonys Martin and Mike Olt each had a hit for the Rangers, as did Brandon Snyder, who singled home Cedric Hunter to finish off the Rangers scoring in the 8th inning.
A.J. Pierzynski struggled at the dish, going 0-3.
The most important thing from Thursday was not the win, even though I must say I'm glad we are off the snide in 2013. The most important thing was finally getting a strong performance from the pitchers from beginning to end. Even if Texas gives up a lot of runs on Friday, it made me feel better about the pitchers in the bullpen for at least one game.
Next Up: The Rangers will travel to the Spring Training home of the Seattle Mariners on Friday, as Texas will face a divisional foe for the first time this spring. Randy Wells will make his second spring start after giving up three hits and a run in two innings of work against Kansas City last Saturday. Seattle will counter with James Paxton, a 24 year old left-hander who pitched a scoreless inning against San Diego last Sunday. Paxton has a 15-7 record in two minor league seasons with a career minor league ERA of 2.73.
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