Greg Holland's Cardinals debut did not go well

But did the team really put him in a position to succeed?

Veteran closer Greg Holland was added to the Cardinals' active roster prior to Monday night's game against the Brewers. Holland a mere 11 days ago signed a one-year, $14 million contract with St. Louis. Holland wound up making an appearance after the game went to extras and, well, it didn't go swimmingly for the right-hander ... 

One of those four walks was intentional (Manny Pina), but that's still a terrible outing. Of his 19 pitches, just six went for strikes. Here's a closer look ...

Greg Holland was unable to find the strike zone in his first appearance with the Cardinals. Baseball Savant

Nothing optimal about that. Holland's struggled with his control at times -- especially in the 2015 and 2017 seasons, which bookended his Tommy John surgery -- but this is squarely out of character. Coming into Monday night's game, he'd made 370 career appearances, and never had he walked four batters in a game. Just six times had he walked three batters in a single appearance. Oh, and the only out he recorded on Monday night was on Eric Sogard's sacrifice bunt. Holland took the loss (MIL 5, STL 4 in 10 innings) and received some boos from the Busch Stadium crowd.

It's fair to ask, though, whether the Cardinals put Holland in a position to succeed. As noted above, he signed less than two weeks ago. Holland didn't sign in time to pitch during Grapefruit League play, and then he worked a pair of innings in the High-A Florida State League. Despite such limited action and despite not having anything resembling a normal spring, Holland was thrust into a high-leverage situation on Monday night by manager Mike Matheny. 

The Cardinals at the point Holland was summoned had used just two of their eight relievers. Maybe the game runs long enough to force Holland in, but no reason to force it. The larger point is that perhaps Holland should've had a significantly longer tune-up stint in the minors. Sure, maybe he's lights-out his next time up, but you have to wonder whether he was rushed, given the complete and utter lack of control and command.  

Holland's the one who didn't have it on Monday night, but the organization may have some culpability, as well.