KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas City Royals reliever Greg Holland has a right elbow ligament tear that will end his season and likely require surgery.
“It’s a significant tear,” Royals manager Ned Yost said Thursday before a game against Seattle.
Holland will see Dr. Neal ElAttrache of the Kerlan-Jobe Orthopaedic Clinic in Los Angeles next week to determine the severity of the injury.
Surgery is probable but depends on the second opinion.
“This wasn’t a situation where rest would help it.” Yost said. “It was what it was.”
An MRI on Aug. 31 detected the tear, but Holland wanted to try to pitch through it.
“He felt like he could manage through it and would still be trying if I didn’t say, ‘Look, I’m not going to use you as my closer,”’ Yost said.
Holland, 29, leads the Royals with 32 saves in 37 opportunities, but has been erratic this season. His fastball velocity has dipped to the upper 80s and lower 90s mph.
Yost said that Wade Davis would be his closer for the remainder of the season and postseason.
“We’re at the point of our season where we can’t afford a hiccup,” Yost said. “And knowing what we know about that tear, it’s not the thing to do for everybody.”
Holland said the elbow has been bothering him since August 2014, but he did not want an MRI.
“They suggested me getting a MRI,” Holland said. “I told them I didn’t want to cause I didn’t want that burden if there was something wrong to go out there and pitch with it.
“I felt good enough to go out there to compete. I didn’t want it to sidetrack anything we were trying to do. We got through the (2014) season, and we went into the offseason as sort of that extended shutdown period to see how it would respond. And it responded well.”
Davis is 8-1 with 13 saves in 14 chances and a 0.86 ERA, while Kelvin Herrera is one of the best setup men in baseball.
“Are we going to miss Holly? Definitely,” Yost said. “But we feel like we’re covered.”
Holland, a two-time All-Star, logged seven postseason saves last October.
“I hate I’m not out there worse than anything, but it’s the best thing for the team,” Holland said.
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