Former Yankees reliever Clay Holmes recently decided to switch boroughs and signed a three-year $38 million contract with the Mets. However, Holmes isn’t coming to Queens to bolster the New York Mets bullpen. The Mets are interested in converting the two-time all-star closer into a starter. Holmes hasn’t started a game since his rookie year in 2018 with the Pittsburgh Pirates. Like most things in the Mets’ history, experimenting with Clay Holmes as a starting pitcher will fail miserably.
The Clay Holmes Experiment
Embed from Getty ImagesThe New York Mets headed into the offseason needing starting pitching. Luis Severino recently signed with the Athletics. It’s also still uncertain whether the team brings back starters Sean Manaea and Jose Quintana who are still free agents. The Mets decided to go a non-traditional route and sign former Yankees on and off closer Clay Holmes and convert him into a starter. Given he’s 31 years old and hasn’t started a game in six years, this experiment is a classic bad Mets idea.
He Previously Failed Badly As A Starter
Embed from Getty ImagesDuring his rookie year with the Pirates, Clay Holmes started four games in 2018. The results weren’t pretty. As a starter, Holmes went 1-2 with an ERA of 8.18 and had 13 walks to 12 strikeouts. In two of his starts, Holmes didn’t even make it out of the second inning. At one point, the then-rookie was removed from the rotation and wouldn’t start again until September 30th! Since his four-start stint, Clay Holmes has primarily worked out of the bullpen with both the Pirates and Yankees.
The Mets Are Trying To Copy What The Padres Did With Michael King
Embed from Getty ImagesThe New York Mets appear to be trying to replicate the success the Padres had with Michael King in 2024. However, the scenarios for both Holmes and King are very different from each other. While King was mostly a reliever with the Yankees, however, unlike Clay Holmes, he did make 19 starts during his career in pinstripes. The current Padre starter would even make nine starts late in the 2023 season. By the time King was traded over to San Diego and inserted into their starting rotation, the transition was seamless. Given that Clay Holmes hasn’t started a game in seven years and has always been a reliever, the adjustment will be difficult.
Clay Holmes Lost His Job As Closer Last Season
Embed from Getty ImagesBeing a starting pitcher in Major League Baseball is a high-pressure position where the margin for error is small. Clay Holmes originally held a similarly pressure-packed role as a closer. While the 31-year-old was selected to two all-star teams, the results weren’t as pretty as they appear on paper. Holmes’s time as the Yankees closer was very up and down. Last season, he led the league with 13 blown saves. While he made it to his second career all-star team, his selection was heavily disputed. Holmes would eventually be removed as the closer in favor of Luke Weaver.
Clay Holmes Will Have To Utilize His Other Pitches
Embed from Getty ImagesClay Holmes is notorious for primarily being a sinker ball pitcher which he threw 56.3% of the time last year. His sinker typically averaged 96.6 MPH with it topping out at 99 MPH. He then threw his slider at 23% of the time and it averaged 87.1 MPH and peaked at 89.5 MPH. Holmes also mixed in a sweeper 20.5% of the time and it averaged 83.7 MPH and topped out at 86.1 MPH. While he did have a fastball, he only threw twice all of last season and it only got up to 88 MPH in limited use.
Now that Clay Holmes will be a starter, he’ll need to expand his usage of his other pitches. If he continues to mostly want to throw his sinker, he won’t survive as a starting pitcher. This league has a way of figuring out how to hit a pitcher’s best stuff. Holmes will now be facing hitters two to three times through the lineup and will need to figure out other ways to get them out. Given the way the 31-year-old has been pitching for the past seven years, the learning curve will be steep.
The Mets Are Going To Find Out What Pittsburgh Already Knows
Embed from Getty ImagesWhile Clay Holmes originally came up as a starter, it took just four starts for the Pirates to realize he shouldn’t be in the rotation. This is an experiment that is going to blow up in the New York Mets’ faces. While there’s a lot of pressure attached to being a starting pitcher, it should be noted that Holmes lost his equally high-pressured closer job this past season. The 31-year-old hasn’t started a game since 2018 and it’s unrealistic to expect the longtime reliever to become a starter now. Just like what happened to Clay Holmes in Pittsburgh, it won’t take the Mets long to realize that he shouldn’t be in the starting rotation.
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