Jun 8, 2025; West Sacramento, California, USA; Athletics pitcher Grant Holman (67) throws a pitch against the Baltimore Orioles during the eighth inning at Sutter Health Park. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

What You Need to Know About Diamondbacks' Newest Reliever

Originally posted on Arizona Diamondbacks on SI
By Alex D'Agostino | Last updated Feb 19, 2026 5:15 PM ET

Newest Arizona Diamondbacks reliever Grant Holman was claimed off waivers from the Athletics less than a week ago. He's since reported to big league camp, and is one of the many arms in the mix for a bullpen role — an area manager Torey Lovullo has described as having "eight open spots."

Holman, 25, played college ball at Cal Berkeley, and was drafted by then-Oakland in 2021 as a starting pitcher, before transitioning to a relief role in 2023. He debuted in 2024, throwing to a 4.02 ERA in 18 appearances.

Holman said he's "Just excited to be here," in Arizona. "It's a good group of guys. Still learning names and faces, but excited to get it rolling."

Get to know Arizona Diamondbacks reliever Grant Holman

Dennis Lee-Imagn Images

Holman has already begun working with Arizona's pitching coaches.

"It's been good. Kind of just getting to hear what they think and kind of creating a game plan on how to improve things going forward," he said.

The right-hander throws a four-seam that climbs into the 95 MPH range, an 87 MPH split-finger and an occasional slider. He doesn't have a specific go-to pitch; when he's pitching at his best, he's utilizing them all equally well.

"When everything's going right, all three pitches are the go-to. For me, it's really just about confidence and understanding who I am and taking that out onto the mound with me.

"Baseball's a team game, but at the end of the day, when you're on the mound, it's you against that guy at the plate. So it's doing all your prep work, understanding who you're facing, how you're going to approach it, and then going out there and executing it," he said.

Holman said it's been a positive transition from the Athletics organization to the D-backs.

"It's been a little different, but definitely not in a bad way. Everything's been good. I think the front office and the coaching staff have a really good mindset on how to work with players and be really good resources for just developing whatever you want to do," he said.

"They share the same vision as all the players do. We want to win games. We want to be successful. We want to do all the little things the right way. And I think that stuff adds up. So, yeah, it's been a little bit of a different experience being with a new team, but it's been cool to get a change of scenery and kind of see how things are done in other parts of the league."

This article first appeared on Arizona Diamondbacks on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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