made 15 relief appearances for the Kansas City Royals, going 0–1 with 23 strikeouts and a 6.75 ERA in 18 innings. Holland started the 2011 season in Omaha, but was called up again in May, earning his first major league win in a May 19 game against the Texas Rangers. He pitched in 46 games for the big league club that season, going 5–1 with a 1.80 ERA. He allowed only 37 hits and struck out 74 batters in 60 innings. At the minor league level, he was 2–0 with a 2.08 ERA in 13 relief appearances that season. In 2012, Holland went 7–4 with 16 saves, 91 strikeouts and a 2.96 ERA in 67 relief appearances. He assumed closing duties when Jonathan Broxton, who began the season as the team's closer, was traded to the Cincinnati Reds on July 31. He also pitched in two games at the minor league level that year. In 2013, Holland became the Royals full-time closer and converted 47 of 50 save opportunities. On September 26, 2013, Holland set the Royals single season saves record with his 46th save in a 3–2 win over the Chicago White Sox. He surpassed Dan Quisenberry and Jeff Montgomery who both had 45 save seasons. 2014–2016 Holland had his second straight All-Star year in 2014, converting 46 of 48 save opportunities while compiling a 1.44 ERA. He appeared in eight games in the postseason leading up to the Royals World Series appearance, posting a 1.13 ERA over 8 innings and earning 6 saves. He tied a playoff series record by saving 4 games in the ALCS (matching Dennis Eckersley's record in the 1988 ALCS), the first since John Wetteland in the 1996 World Series. On October 22, Holland won the inaugural Mariano Rivera Award for his outstanding performance as a closer. Two days later in Game 3 of the World Series he saved his record-tying seventh game of the postseason, sharing the record with Wetteland, Robb Nen, Troy Percival, Brad Lidge and Koji Uehara. After serving the bulk of the 2015 season as the Royals' closer, compiling 32 saves with a 3.83 ERA, doctors discovered in late September that Holland had a "significant tear" in his right ulnar collateral ligament. On September 22, the Royals announced that Holland's season was over, and that he would likely require Tommy John surgery. On September 29, the team confirmed that Holland