Cubs acquire Derek Holland from Giants

The Cubs have not had too many effective lefthanders in the bullpen this year.

They’re going to try a converted starter in the pen, as they have acquired lefty Derek Holland from the Giants. Per a press release from the team, this was a cash transaction, witn an unspecified amount of cash going in each direction between the Cubs and Giants.

Holland had a pretty good year in 2018 for San Francisco (3.57 ERA, 1.290 WHIP, 2.1 bWAR) but was demoted to the Giants bullpen after some bad starts early this year.

He’s been very tough on lefthanded hitters this season. LHB are hitting .182/.276/.195 (14-for-77) against him with only one extra-base hit (a double) and 18 strikeouts.

To make room for Holland on the 40-man roster, Tim Collins has been designated for assignment. Collins was DFA earlier this year and cleared waivers and was sent back to Triple-A Iowa and the same thing could very well happen now.

There’s still one more transaction to be made today, and that’s the expected activation of Ian Happ. It has not yet been announced whether Holland will join the team in Milwaukee, though with all the LH hitters the Brewers have, that would likely be a good idea. For now, it would appear that Happ might take Collins’ spot, with Holland joining the team later.

As always, we await developments.