John Stephen Holdzkom...Is a 2005 graduate of Rancho Cucamonga (CA) High School...Played collegiate ball at Salt Lake Community College...Went 1-1 in two appearances (one start) in the 2012 World Baseball Classic qualifiers for New Zealand (father was born there)...Has participated in the Pirates caravan and PirateFest events the past two Decembers.
2015
Spent majority of injury-plagued season with Triple-A Indianapolis...Picked up first save in second outing on 4/12 vs. Columbus...Walked five batters and struck out a total of six in back-to-back appearances on 4/20 and 4/23...Pitched a scoreless frame and recorded first win on 4/29 vs. Louisville...Picked up second and final save on 5/7 vs. Rochester...Was placed on the Triple-A disabled list on 5/11 due to shoulder fatigue...Was reinstated on 6/9 and struck out each of the three batters he faced that night at Rochester...Won his second decision on 6/16 vs. Durham...Was placed on the 7-Day D.L. with a right shoulder strain on 7/1 (retro to 6/29)... Made two rehab appearances with West Virginia in the New York-Penn League on 7/23 and 7/25...Was reinstated from disabled list on 7/28 and made one final appearance on 7/29 before returning to the D.L. for the remainder of the season with a shoulder strain on 8/1 (retro to 7/30).
2014
Began season pitching with Amarillo of the independent American Association...Also pitched in one game with San Angelo of the independent United League...Was signed by Pittsburgh as a minor league free agent on 6/23 and was assigned to Double-A Altoona...Made his Curve debut on 6/25 and tossed 2.0 scoreless innings of relief...Pitched 2.0 scoreless frames on 7/3 at Bowie and picked up his only win with Altoona...Was promoted to Indianapolis on 7/5...Tossed 1.0 scoreless inning of relief and won his Triple-A debut on 7/8 vs. Lehigh Valley...Made second appearance on 7/10 vs. Columbus (game two) and tossed 3.0 scoreless innings of relief while notching his second straight victory...Recorded first save with the Indians on 8/12 at Toledo...Was charged with an earned run in just four of his 18 Triple-A appearances and struck out at least one batter in 20 of his 22 combined outings between Altoona and Indianapolis...Went 3-0 with two saves and a 1.95 ERA (27.2ip/6er) and 37 strikeouts in his 22 games in Pittsburgh minor league system...Was selected by Pittsburgh on 8/31 and optioned to Indianapolis...Was recalled by Pittsburgh on 9/2.
2013
Spent entire season in the American Association and went 3-4 with two saves and a 2.89 ERA (43.2ip/14er) in 42 combined relief appearances between Sioux City and Amarillo.
2012
Was signed by Cincinnati as a minor league free agent on 1/5...Made five of his six appearances in relief...Allowed one unearned run in 3.0 innings while making his lone start on 4/17 at Visalia.
2011
Did not pitch professionally.
2010
Began season recovering from right elbow injury...Made one rehab appearance with the Gulf Coast League Mets before being joining Kingsport (Mets' Rookie) for five games.
2009
Missed first half of the season due to a club-imposed suspension...Missed from 7/23 - to the end of season with right elbow injury, which carried into the 2010 campaign.
2008
Established season career highs in starts (12), innings pitched (86.2) and strikeouts (100)...Went 5-4 with a 4.88 ERA in 28 combined games (12 starts) between Savannah (Mets' Class-A) and Kingsport (Mets' Rookie)...Made his first 15 appearances with the Sand Gnats pitching out of the bullpen...Suffered the loss on 4/22 before winning his next two decisions...Was moved to Kingsport on 6/16...Suffered loss while making his first appearance in relief on 6/17 vs. Greeneville...Went 3-0 while making his final seven outings as a starter...Returned to Savannah on 7/30 and went 0-2 while making five starts.
2007
Began season with the GCL Mets before being promoted to Kingsport...Earned the win in his Kingsport debut on 8/18, pitching 2.0 scoreless innings of relief.
2006
Made professional debut with the Gulf Coast League Mets on 6/23 and allowed two runs in 2.1 innings of relief...Snapped a four-game losing streak to start his professional career with a victory on 7/31 against GCL Marlins.
