If the Kansas City Royals are to defend their American League pennant, they'll be doing so without an All-Star reliever.

Holland, 29, was removed from his closer's role earlier this week by manager Ned Yost after continued elbow soreness has derailed his velocity. Wade Davis, the Royals' eighth-inning man, has stepped into the closer's role.

Holland is set to visit with famed surgeon Dr. Neal ElAttrache next week in Los Angeles. ElAttrache is the same surgeon who performed recent surgeries on Kobe Bryant and Zack Greinke. There is some concern that Tommy John surgery is a possibility. Holland's four-seam fastball normally hits the 95-96 miles per hour range, but has been topping out lately at 85-86.

A native of Morganton, North Carolina, Holland has seen his ERA balloon to 3.83 in recent days and he blew his fifth save of the season last Friday in a 5-4 loss to the Detroit Tigers. Holland had five blown saves in his past two seasons combined.

Originally drafted out of Western Carolina University in 2007, Holland has combined 93 saves over the past two seasons and had seven last postseason when the Royals lost the World Series in seven games to the San Francisco Giants.

In 48 games this season, Holland is 3-2 with 32 saves.

The Royals are next in action on Thursday night when they wrap up a three-game series at home to the Seattle Mariners. The team currently holds a 10-game lead over the Minnesota Twins for first place in the AL Central and a game-and-a-half lead over the Toronto Blue Jays for the best record in the AL. Their magic number to clinch their first division title since 1985 is two.