What did Ron Washington say to Derek Holland last night?

Ron Washington and Derek Holland provided two of my favorite moments from last night’s game.

The first came when Washington took Holland by the shoulders and gave him a dugout pep talk moments before taking the mound in the first inning, trying to motivate the young left-hander who’d struggled in his previous two starts.

Holland shared some of the pep talk details with Richard Durrett of ESPN Dallas:

The big thing was he was talking to me, motivating me more than anything. He said, “I know what your game plan is and you’re going to go in to hitters. Just don’t be hitting anybody.” He was telling me to stay in control, be relaxed and I’d be fine.

Injured reliever Darren O’Day noted afterward that Washington “does that a lot with Holland” and last night it certainly worked, as the second caught-on-camera moment came when the manager went out to the mound in the ninth inning to chat with Holland before eventually deciding to end his bid for a complete-game shutout in favor of Neftali Feliz.

Holland recapped that chat as well:

He’s like, “Nope, you ain’t going out there son.” I said, “Come on, Wash. You got to let me go. I can get this. I’m going to try to get a double play and do everything I can.” He said, “Nope, you ain’t getting out there. Just watch the crowd reaction when you get out of here, son.” I said, “All right, I’ll see you later Wash. Thanks.”

That’s a lot of “son” mentions in a relatively short chat and if Holland really ended things with “I’ll see you later Wash” he’s my new favorite player.