John Holdzkom out with shoulder fatigue

The Pirates are giving John Holdzkom rest as he deals with shoulder trouble, Stephen J. Nesbitt reports.

John Holdzkom has been shut down due to shoulder fatigue, per Clint Hurdle. "The command has been a challenge." 13 BB in 11.1 IP at Indy.

— Stephen J. Nesbitt (@stephenjnesbitt) May 11, 2015

Shoulder fatigue is never good news, but I'm hopeful that this at least provides an explanation for Holdzkom's poor pitching this season that isn't, "Last year was a mirage." Holdzkom has pitched 11.1 innings for Indianapolis, striking out 14 batters while walking 13. That's included some maddening outings like this one, where he walked three batters and struck out three in the same inning. He has, of course, dealt with control problems in the past. In fact, you might say his entire career before 2014 was a control problem. If his shoulder is giving him trouble, maybe he can take a month off and go back to throwing strikes. Or perhaps it's a serious shoulder issue. We'll see. Either way, it would be great to get him back at full strength -- for the brief time he was with the Pirates last year, he was the most exciting, and probably the best, reliever they had.