The 2026 Arizona Fall League is in full swing, and the Cincinnati Reds have eight guys participating this year. And according to Fangraphs, the Reds have one of the best pitchers in the AFL right now.
Getting His Chance to Shine
Right-handed starter Luke Holman has been one of the top pitchers in the hitter-friendly Arizona Fall League. The 23-year-old pitcher has surrendered just one run over nine innings and has 15 strikeouts and just one walk.
Before appearing in the AFL, Holman had only pitched in 15.2 innings for the Reds organization. Injuries have been a big part of Holman's professional story, as he had Tommy John surgery in early 2025. Holman made his 2026 season debut in the Arizona Complex League late in the season, pitching 6.2 innings over four appearances. The Reds decided to keep Holman in Arizona through the fall, and he is coming off his best AFL performance.
Getting Back to What Works
On Tuesday, Holman took the mound for the third time this fall, and it was his best outing. Holman did not give up a run in four innings. He gave up two hits, no walks, and struck out five. The right-hander threw 34 of his 52 pitches for strikes. Just fantastic stuff.
Fangraphs' David Laurila spoke with Holman recently about how he would assess the quality of his stuff relative to before his Tommy John surgery:
"The floor of my fastball velocity has gone up. Hopefully that keeps rising. And then my curveball feels really good. I don’t know exactly where it is metrics-wise, but I would say it’s back to where it was. The slider — it’s more of a gyro; my higher arm angle isn’t really conducive to a sweeper — needs a little bit of work, a little better shape. The splitter has also been pretty good."
That is good news that Holman's fastball velocity is up. Pitchers often, after Tommy John surgery, do see an uptick in their velocity, so it's good to hear that his arm is healed and stronger. Holman went on to speak on his best pitch, his curveball.
"I liked to flip it in, trying to get that good shape. Something that helped out a lot is that when I got older, I started getting good ride on my fastball and could play them off of each other. I’ve always thought of the curveball as straight down."
Holman is not the hardest of throwers, so having an effective secondary pitch like the curve will determine how far he can go. At this point, he is starting to figure it out and is stacking good performances this fall, which bodes well for him in 2027.
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