Luke Holman was one of the top hitter-friendly pitchers in the Arizona Fall League. Through three starts with the Peoria Desert Dogs, the 23-year-old Cincinnati Reds right-hander has given up just one walk in nine innings. In addition, the 15-year-old fan allowed four hits and a solitary walk. On Monday he was particularly keen. Facing the Scorpions against a Scottsdale lineup that included top prospects Zyhir Hope, Bryce Rainer, and Nathan Flewelling, Holman went 4 scoreless innings in 52 innings.
Eric Longenhagen was referring to a recent issue when I asked him about what he saw from the Reading, Pennsylvania native, who the Reds drafted 71st overall in 2024 out of Louisiana State University.
“It looks good,” our lead analyst told me. “A commanding 92-94 side ball, plus a curveball in the 78-82 mph range. Attacks lefties in the hands with fastballs and mid-80s curve/combination, then the curveball drops below the zone. He went four innings in his most recent start. I don’t like the power. 4/5 for me. I want to see how he bends and bends his arm in the 6th. enters and bends in the full exercise of the times.
Once LSU Noble, whose rotation partners included SEC powerhouse Kade Anderson and Gage Jump, didn’t have much of a chance to train. Holman began his professional career with two successful performances in April 2025, only to give up; Tommy John surgery cost him the remainder of the campaign. He also lost almost all of this past injury.
“I had a little bit of a groin thing,” explained Holman, who made just four appearances, all in the Arizona League Complex. “The Reds wanted me to be healthy, then go at it — basically be ready for the fall of the league — but it wasn’t the arm. The arm actually feels as good as it’s ever felt.
Holman’s first AFL appearance, a two-inning stint in which he allowed his only home run, came on October 5 against the River Salt Lakers. Later, I asked Holman how he was going to rate the quality of his stuff before Francis had his Tommy John surgery.
“The floor velocity of my fastball is going up,” said Holman, who now ranks 17th in Cincinnati’s system with 40 FV. “Hopefully he’ll get back up, and then my curveball feels really good, I don’t know exactly where it’s metric wise, but I’d say it’s back to where it was, the slider — it’s more of a swing, the upper arm angle doesn’t really lend itself to swing — it needs a little work, a little better form.
“I threw three dialectics today,” he said. “I need something that goes away from the left. I had a really bad change, so I started throwing splits two years ago. It will fade a little here and there, but it’s a real split and it was pretty bad for me.”
His best weapon is arguably the pitch that Eric described back in December as a “huge mid-70s curve ball that looks like it’s aimed at the host and bends into the zone.”
“I’ve had it since I was little,” Holman said of the curve. “I like to roll it, I was trying to get a good shape. Something that helped a lot is that when I got older, I started getting a good ride on my fastball and being able to pull them off each other. I always thought of the curveball as down.”
As is the case with other pitchers with big curves, Holman found his big weapon was in the top half. It starts well above the zone, and when the ram sees it, they decide not to swing. but afterwards he bursts more sharply below and into the zone, whence it was a free kick. That raises the rest of the at-bat.
“Getting there, showing that I can hit that ground, it kind of lets me down.” [then] Do whatever you want,” Holman said, “I can bounce it back, or throw it anywhere. Because it’s got so much depth to it, I’m just going to see it as a hit every time I bury it instead of drooling and longing.
Holman isn’t the hardest shooter, so the quality of his pitches is important to him going forward. With this in mind, does he see himself as more of a baller, or a pitcher who will mix and match all the stuff?
“I want to throw because I’m good,” Holman said. “Curveball has been really good for me. Like I said, the slider needs a little work right now. I leaned on it a little bit in college, but since TJ has been a little inconsistent. He’ll prevail, though, to get more innings. Ideally, I want to throw four of my pitches for quality hitters. Now, it’s good to be here.”