Chris
Holba

6/6/18 - Drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 11th Round, 333rd Overall, out of East Carolina.

2nd Team All State: O’Fallon’s ace righthander led the Panthers to the Super-Sectional against Providence, where they dropped a hard fought 4-3 contest to the eventual state champion Celtics. Holba was lights out during 2015, going 9-2 with one save, and a 0.95 ERA. In 88.1 innings pitched the East Carolina-bound Holba allowed only 51 hits, with 106 strikeouts and 26 walks, good for a 0.87 WHIP. Holba’s upper 80’s to low 90’s fastball, coupled with a hard breaking slider was one of the nastiest combinations seen in Illinois this spring.

6/8/15 - 6-foot-3, 190-pound lean and athletic right-handed pitcher, ranked No. 13 in Illinois, No. 174 overall, committed to East Carolina. Battled in this outing, getting lifted, then returning in the sixth. Impressed after hitting two straight hitters to give Providence the lead. Came back and minimized the damage with a shallow flyout and a huge 6-4-3 double play ball to give O’Fallon a chance. See scouting report from 4/14 on mechanical breakdown. Fastball sat 87-89 mph early on, worked from 83-86 mph later on. Slider worked in 75-77 mph range, also flashed 81-82 mph changeup. Notched a swinging strikeout to a lefty on an 82 mph change in the second, has above average potential with pitch that he rarely needs to use with fastball/slider combination being so good at the high school level. Not his best outing of the year, but battled in six innings giving up three runs.

4.14.15-  6-foot-3, 190-pound lean and athletic right-handed pitcher, ranked No. 15 in Illinois, No. 170 overall, committed to East Carolina. Holba impressed in his seven innings of three-hit baseball, allowing only a solo homer to Aaron Jackson. Fastball sat 87-89 mph early, touching 90 mph twice, and 91 mph once. Worked 85-88 mph in the later innings, displaying arm side run from his long, loose, ¾ arm slot. Good feel for slider, thrown anywhere from 74-78 mph. It’s a late breaking bender, with 10/4 shape and he likes to start it at a right-handed hitters hip when throwing it for strikes. He also showed the ability to back door it to lefty’s at times, with not as much lateral break. He flashed an 80-83 mph changeup that showed swing and miss potential, with late sinking action. Works across body, shoulders work side to side in delivery, thus running fastball and horizontal breaking slider, lands slightly closed, but doesn’t effect command. Struck out five and walked four in this outing. Handles the bat well at the plate also. Singled hard up the middle in his last at bat, going 1-for-4 on the day.

11/1/14 - Holba has quickly become one of the hotter names in Illinois, especially after his lights-out performance Friday. The athletic 6-foot-2 East Carolina recruit topped at 91 mph with his fastball, and sat 87-89 with late arm-side life and occasional sink. Working from a ¾ slot and across his body, Holba’s 75-76 mph slider has potential to become a big swing-and-miss pitch in the future. Holba’s consistent rise over the course of the year has made him one of the top pitching prospects in Illinois’ 2015 class. We’ve consistently seen Holba’s velocity in the 85-88 range, but never topping out at 91 as he did in Jupiter. Holba jumped to No. 13 in the 2015 Illinois rankings.