From Bulldog To Big Apple

MSU ATHLETICS RELEASE

STARKVILLE, Miss. – The dream of a lifetime has become reality for Jonathan Holder as he has been promoted to the biggest stage with the most storied franchise in Major League Baseball.

HOLDER

The New York Yankees called up Holder from the Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders on Friday, making him the 56th Diamond Dawg in school history to reach the Majors.

A native of Gulfport, Miss., Holder is in his third season pitching professionally after being selected by the Yankees in the sixth round of the 2014 MLB Draft. Prior to this season, 29 of his 35 appearances in the minors had come as a starter, but this year he’s worked exclusively out of the bullpen.

Holder was named International League Player of the Week Monday after recording two saves, 16 strikeouts and an outing for the ages in a playoff-clinching win on Sunday. The right-hander tossed 4.0 dominant innings that included a run of eleven consecutive strikeouts. Overall he fanned twelve of the thirteen batters he faced. Since being promoted from Double-A in mid-July, Holder has now struck out 35 hitters in 20.1 innings without a walk.

The call-up marks the fourth Diamond Dawg to be called up this season, joining Adam Frazier, who was called up by Pittsburgh on June 24, Chad Girodo, who was called up by Toronto on April 22 and Chris Stratton, who joined the San Francisco Giants on May 28.

Holder is now the fifth member of the 2013 CWS Bulldog squad to reach the big leagues, joining Frazier, Girodo, Kendall Graveman and Jacob Lindgren. He is also the sixth Bulldog drafted since head coach John Cohen took over in 2009 to play in the Majors.