Nothing to see here, folks.

Don't go jumping to conclusions, but I thought this was interesting. Derek Holland was in control of a 3-2 lead over Omaha through five innings last night. He'd scattered two runs on four hits, all singles. Punched out eight, the best strikeout rate he'd had in any of his six starts. Issued just one walk. The two runs came on a bunt single and infield hit in the third inning (after which Holland struck out ex-big leaguers Alex Gordon and Scott Thorman to end the inning). The result: his ERA rose to 0.93, which is still the best in the 16-team Pacific Coast League. He's second in the league in strikeouts. His fourth inning was quiet (strikeout, strikeout, groundout to first base). So was his fifth (strikeout, popout to second base, single to center, strikeout). He'd thrown 83 pitches, his lightest pitch count since throwing 82 in Oklahoma City's opener on April 8. A very solid 57 of those pitches went for strikes. He'd faced 20 Royals, the fewest opponents he's faced all season. He'd coaxed five groundouts, just one flyout. But not really. The one "flyout" was that pop to second. But his night was done. I haven't seen that there was any rain, or a dust storm in Omaha, or a light standard that blew out. I don't think there was any sort of extended game delay that would have prompted the club not to send Holland out for the sixth. His RedHawks teammates didn't freeze him up in the dugout with a long top of the sixth, sending just four hitters up. Was Holland pulled after five effective innings and 83 pitches in a 3-2 game to make sure fellow lefthander Clay Rapada (one inning), AAA-debuting righthander Tanner Scheppers (two innings), and closer Pedro Strop (one inning) could get a prescribed amount of work in? Doubtful, considering Holland's chances to help the big club would seem to be more of an immediate consideration than those of the other three. Was he lifted because he was hurt? Haven't seen anything to lead me to believe so. Was he being protected because he's going to be starting for Texas in five days? Surely not. Scott Feldman wouldn't be in danger of losing his rotation spot, even if he hadn't rounded back into form last night by retiring the final 12 A's he faced. And Feldman surely isn't injured. There's no way Texas would have sent him back out there for seven innings after he'd given up seven runs through four frames if there was a physical issue – and Holland's night was over well before Feldman was stretched to seven in the West Coast game. Was Holland's assignment cut short because the Rangers want him ready to start on short rest this Saturday? No chance, not after the way Rich Harden pitched on Monday. Is Holland about to be traded? Of course not. There's obviously an explanation, surely something not worth the 450 words I've coughed up so far. Maybe Holland developed a blister. Maybe he was fighting the stomach flu. Maybe that circuit did blow on a bank of lights in Rosenblatt Stadium and delayed the game 45 minutes. But in these days of over-analysis and, as T.R. Sullivan noted on the radio pregame show last night, too much focus on the minor leagues, yeah, I guess I went there. Don't expect a Newberg Report news flash updating this non-story. But I did find it interesting. =========================================================== To join the free Newberg Report mailing list so you can get e-mail deliveries of every edition of the newsletter, daily minor league game recaps, and frequent Newberg Report News Flashes, go to www.newbergreport.com and click the "Mailing List" link on the top menu bar. (c) Jamey Newberg http://www.newbergreport.com Twitter @newbergreport