Coming Holm

State Hornet Staff

Sacramento State’s baseball team has made significant changes to its starting lineup and coaching staff from last year’s team and no addition has been more influential than new homegrown hitting coach and former major league catcher Steve Holm.

Holm grew up in Sacramento while attending McClatchy High School just a few miles from Sac State in the 1990s. Although his roots are in Sacramento, he hasn’t returned to his hometown since he left for college and was drafted into professional baseball nearly 16 years ago.

“I was at that point where I was ready to not play anymore,” Holm said. “I wanted to get back into college baseball as opposed to professional baseball. I had a few options to coach or scout in that arena, but I really wanted to be in college baseball and especially in my hometown.”

After spending 12 years in the minor league system – mostly in the San Francisco Giants organization – he played in more than 50 major league games for the Giants and Minnesota Twins, collectively.

Holm has caught for Giants’ superstars such as Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, Madison Bumgarner and Brian Wilson in his big league career. He was even competing for a starting spot in AAA Fresno with National League MVP Buster Posey in 2010.

Reminiscing about his baseball career, Holm said he remembers one moment more vividly than the rest: his big league home run for the Giants in 2008.

“It was actually Mother’s Day and we were losing by one,” Holm said. “Randy (Winn) got on with two outs and Aaron (Rowand) was on deck, so I was at least smart enough to know that I was going to get a first-pitch fastball. I did – (I) swung hard and happened to hit it over the fence.”

Who was his only home run against? Holm responded almost immediately without hesitation after he was asked who he hit the homer off of.

“J.C. Romero,” Holm said with a smile.

The Los Angeles Dodgers drafted Holm out of high school at the young age of 17. He decided to decline the offer and play in college instead.

“I was drafted as a shortstop out of high school and had played shortstop all the way through college,” Holm said. “My senior year I was drafted with the intention of becoming a catcher.”

Holm said he made the position switch because he felt his body had outgrown the typical shortstop size; he decided the catcher position would be the best option for him.

“It’s kind of a different gig having to switch positions that drastically,” Holm said. ”Some guys go from shortstop to second base and it’s really not that big of a deal, so that was a difficult switch and something I had never done.”

Holm said he plans on leading his players at Sac State with his experience at all levels of professional baseball. When it comes to the draft, he’d rather let the player figure out what he wants to do.

“For these guys, the only thing I tell them is to play – play hard and show your tools,” Holm said. “The scout’s job is to write down what they see and sometimes they aren’t always right but, at the end of the day – if you have the tools and aptitude – you’ll play for a long time.”

Holm has played in more than 600 minor league games with more than 2,000 plate appearances under his belt. He joined the Giants organization after being drafted in the 17th round of the 2001 June Amateur draft out of Oral Roberts University, and he spent the next few years in low-A ball.  

“In high school I (knew I was going to play in the big leagues), but in college I thought I had a pretty good chance,” Holm said. “Then I spent six years in A-ball which was partly learning how to catch and partly learning how to hit.”

Nowadays, Holm is one of the few guys alongside head coach Reggie Christiansen training the team for the upcoming season.

“He’s doing a great job in all areas,” Christiansen said. “He helps on the pitching side, the catching side (and) the infield side – he’s doing a tremendous job. The college game is a little new to him after playing professionally for 12 years and he has adapted really well.”

As a team last season, the Hornets held a .298 batting average, placing them in the top 30 in the nation in hitting. Holm said he can’t predict the same results but he hopes the team does their best.

“Last year, Derek Chung was a fifth-year senior and arguably one of their best players,” Holm said. “He graduated – he’s gone. Now we have a hole at the plate and we are probably going to fill that spot with a freshman. So you can’t expect this team to hit like last year’s team.”

With the departure of starting catcher Chung from last year’s roster, Holm is hoping redshirt freshman from Hawaii, Dane Fujinaka, can take his place.

“As long as each guy plays up to his capability, that’s all you can do as a coach. Prepare your guys and allow them to succeed, then the rest is up to them, “Holm said. “It’s leaving  a horse some water and if he drinks, he drinks.“

Christiansen said he believes Holm’s experience with the catcher position – and his career .993 fielding percentage – will help the new starter, Fujinaka, get in the groove of being a starter.

“(Fujinaka) will be our catcher and (Holm) being a former catcher really helps,” Christiansen said. “That position isn’t one we have been too good at over the past couple of years because we didn’t have anyone on our staff with that expertise. So yeah, that really helps Dane’s progress for sure.”

Fujinaka said the pressure of becoming a young starter seems to be settling down because a guy who has seen it all is training him.

“Oh, I love it. He’s great. If it weren’t for him, I wouldn’t be playing at all,” Fujinaka said of Holm. “The huge leap I’ve had from last year to this year is pretty ridiculous and he has definitely made a huge impact – especially with our pitchers and catchers.”

Christiansen said when he was looking for a new help for his team, he recruited Holm just like he would with any other high school recruit. With Holm being a Sacramento native, the decision to bring him on board was an easy one.

“We are trying to get local people involved with the program for sure,” Christiansen said. “I think it’s an unbelievable baseball area from the high schools and junior college systems, while also trying to get people in the seats.”

Holm said he gives credit to his hard work ethic and believes it is the reason he made it so far the big leagues.

“There were people in front of me who played every day (but) fortunately for me, I played in the big leagues and some of them didn’t,” Holm said. “It doesn’t always make sense, but I was the one that was always there – I always gave it a chance – (and) I felt like I could play and, at the end of the day, I made it as far as I could possibly want.”

Russell can be reached on Twitter at @PrestonSHsports