Derek Holland.

8-4-1-0-1-10: One of the two or three greatest minor league games I've ever seen pitched.  The fact that it was Derek Holland's AA debut, that five weeks ago he was not just in Class A but in Low Class A, that one year ago today he'd thrown 39 professional innings (and no more than five in any one appearance), that 15 months ago he was making his final four starts for Wallace State-Hanceville Community College, against Meridian Community College, Marion Military Institute, Gadsden State, and Calhoun.  All that is irrelevant, as is the fact that Holland is 21 years old and would have been drafted out of Arizona State two months ago (and probably negotiating right up to this Friday's deadline) had he not agreed to terms with the Rangers last year.  As frameable as 8-4-1-0-1-10 looks on the page, it was even better in person.

69: Percentage of Derek Holland's 107 pitches that were strikes.

86: Number of Holland's pitches that were fastballs.  (His first breaking ball of the game was his 13^th pitch, a slider he left up to left-handed-hitting first baseman Jeff Kindel, who slapped an opposite-field double that scored Tulsa's only run [unearned because Frisco first baseman Chad Tracy dropped third baseman Adam Fox's throw on the previous hitter's routine grounder that would have ended the inning].)  Holland's breaking ball was a little inconsistent, as was his change, but there were spectacular instances of each.

5: Number of Holland's fastballs that clocked in at 97 mph - including all three pitches to strike out the game's second hitter, former blue-chip first-rounder Chris Nelson.  (Holland hit 96 another 17 times, and sat 93-95 most of the night.)

2: Number of times Holland registered 95 on the gun in the eighth inning.

8: Number of Holland's 10 strikeouts that were swinging.

2: Number of players in the Drillers' lineup that Holland did not strike out.

3: Number of Holland's 24 outs that were recorded by his outfielders, who burned about as many calories defensively as I did sitting in the stands.  Holland induced eight groundouts, picked one runner off dead in his tracks at first base, had catcher Manny Pina cut another down trying to scamper to third on a ball that kicked away at the plate, and saw Elvis Andrus gun another down at the plate to end the eighth and preserve a 1-1 tie as Holland's night ended. 

11: Number of wins Holland has in 12 decisions this year, as Jose Vallejo, Andrus, and Julio Borbon keyed a four-run bottom of the eighth with their feet before Andrew Laughter came on to finish the 5-1 victory that Holland earned.

138: Number of strikeouts Holland has in 132.2 innings in 2008.

35: Number of walks Holland has.  How does that 4:1 ratio work for you?

747: Number of players selected in the 2006 draft before Texas followed the recommendations of area scouts Rick Schroeder and Jeff Wood and called Holland's name.

2: I was planning on keeping this under wraps until a week from today, when my first Top 20 Prospects feature is published on TexasRangers.com, but I can't do it.  When I post my first ranking of the Top 20 prospects in the Rangers' farm system next week, Derek Holland will show up at number two.

And I had made that decision before tonight.

Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News suggested in this morning's "Inside the Texas Rangers" newsletter that in order to make a trade for an impact pitcher this winter, Texas will probably have to part with Chris Davis, Neftali Feliz, Engel Beltre, or Andrus.  He suggests the first two should be untouchable, and that Andrus should be slightly more expendable than Beltre if for no other reason than the relative lack of system depth in the outfield.

Let me suggest that Derek Holland is more a more untouchable asset right now than Beltre or Andrus, or anyone else in the system outside of Davis and Feliz.

For years we've sat tight anticipating whether our best pitching prospects' performance at the upper levels would catch up to their hype.

With this kid, we're now seeing the hype start to catch up.

Be excited.  Be very excited.

 

You can read more from Jamey Newberg at www.NewbergReport.com.