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TALKING STICK, AZ: Cincinnati Reds prospect Luke Holman of the Peoria Javelinas pitches against the Salt River Rafters at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick on Oct. 5, 2026. (Photo by Norm Hall/Minor League Baseball via Getty Images)
Minor League Baseball via Getty ImagesLuke Holman has pitched well in the 2026 Arizona Fall League. Now the 23-year-old right-hander has his sights set on the Cincinnati Reds’ 2027 starting rotation.
“What I’ve been able to do has me excited,” said Holman, who is on the National League roster for the 2026 Fall Stars Game this Sunday. “Just being able to play baseball again, and being healthy is just great. I think I’m throwing better than ever."
His 13 innings this fall for the Peoria Javelinas are nearly as many as he threw the past two years total after being Cincinnati’s second-round pick, No. 71 overall, in 2024.
He pitched nine exceptional innings to start the 2025 season at Class A Daytona Beach. He gave up two hits, one run, and struck out 10. He also blew out his right elbow and had Tommy John surgery.
Holman didn’t take the mound in a game again until June 30 of this year. In four brief outings’ for the Reds’ team in the Arizona Complex League, he fanned 9, walked 1 and allowed 5 hits and 2 runs over only 6 2/3 innings.
Then he had a groin strain and the Reds shut him down for the summer, sending him to Arizona to get in some work.
“It wasn’t my arm, but the Reds wanted me completely healthy for the Fall League. My arm felt great in June and out here, too."
In five short outings, including four starts, Holman has a 1-0 record and 0.69 ERA this fall, fanning 9 over 13 innings and allowing only five hits. He has walked seven, however.
“The floor of my fastball velocity has gone up,” Holman told David Laurila of fangraphs.com last month. “Hopefully that keeps rising. And then my curveball feels really good. I don’t know exactly where it is metrics-wise, but I would say it’s back to where it was. The slider — it’s more of a gyro; my higher arm angle isn’t really conducive to a sweeper — needs a little bit of work, a little better shape. The splitter has also been pretty good."
Holman’s path to pitching began early. His dad was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 13th round in 1990, but he stayed at Jacksonville State. The Philadelphia Phillies chose him in the 22nd round in 1991 and he pitched eight years in their minor-league system.
Luke gained notice at Wilson High School in West Lawn, Pa. As a senior, he went 7-1 record with one save and 0.88 ERA. He struck out 113 over 55 2/3 innings. At 6-foot-4, he also played on the basketball team. The Toronto Blue Jays picked him in the last round (20th) of the 2021 MLB Draft.
Instead, he wisely went off to the University of Alabama for two seasons. In 31 appearances including 15 starts, he had a 4.05 ERA with 111 strikeouts in 100 innings.
He also made two starts for the USA Collegiate Team in 2023. He went 2-0 over eight scoreless innings, striking out 15. He defeated Chinese Taipei on July 3 and Japan on July 9.
Holman transferred to NCAA power Louisiana State in 2024, where he was the No. 1 starter ahead of current MLB pitchers Kade Anderson (Seattle Mariners) and Gage Jump (Athletics). Holman had a 9-4 record and 2.75 ERA in 91 2/3 innings with 33 walks and 127 strikeouts, allowing only 57 hits.
There’s something about pitchers being picked at No. 71 overall. That something is not good. Thirteen of 29 pitchers picked at that spot in history made the majors. More alarming is the number of recent pitchers picked 71st who got hurt.
In addition, Jerry DiPoto was picked 71st overall by the Cleveland Indians in 1989 and had thyroid cancer surgery in 1994. He pitched for Cleveland (1933-94), the New York Mets (1995-96) and Colorado Rockies (1997-2000).
He is now the Seattle Mariners’ president of baseball operations after stin ts as general manager with Seattle (2015-22), Los Angeles Angels (2011-25) and Arizona Diamondbacks (2010).
Holman hopes to get in a good inning at the Stars Game this Sunday, finish November strong, and report for spring training at the Reds’ complex in Goodyear, AZ, in February.
His big rainbow curveball, after some early command problems, has been particularly effective against lefty batters. Holman sets it up by throwing fastballs around 94 mph, then throwing an 80-mph curve or mid-80s sliders under their hands and breaking out of the zone.
He told Laurila he is working on a splitter. “I needed something that goes away from a lefty," he said. "I had a really bad changeup, so I started throwing a splitter a couple years ago. It will knuckle a little bit here and there, but it’s a true splitter and has been pretty nasty for me.”
Holman almost assuredly will open 2027 in the minors, especially if there is a players lockout by owners as expected during contract talks. If he shows he is durable enough to maintain command of all his pitches, Holman is the type of pitcher that could be called up to the Cincinnati Reds as a strike-thrower at the back of the rotation.
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