The New York Mets signed Clay Holmes to a three-year deal, stealing him away from the crosstown rival New York Yankees. Holmes is a two-time all-star closing pitcher but has never been a starter in his Major League career. He made four sporadic starts during his first cup of Major League coffee in 2018 with the Pittsburgh Pirates, but that’s the extent of his work as a starting pitcher in the bigs.

Moving a pitcher from the bullpen to the rotation is always a gamble. Sometimes, it can lead to an all-star caliber starter, like it did for Garrett Crochet or Reynaldo Lopez this past season. Other times, it can end as it did for A.J. Puk, who made four starts with the Miami Marlins in 2024 and surrendered 14 earned runs before becoming a shutdown reliever once again. The Mets should have some backup plans in place in case Holmes isn’t effective.

1) Jose Butto

Jose Butto would likely be one of the Mets’ go-to options if Holmes falters in the rotation. The right-hander finally got an extended look against Major League batters in 2024, working as a swingman-type pitcher. He made seven starts in 30 games, tossing 74 total innings. Not only did he get to pitch a decent amount of frames, but he was also an effective pitcher.

Butto worked to a 2.55 ERA, 3.83 FIP, and 1.07 WHIP. He struck out 26.9% of batters while only allowing home runs at a 0.73-per-9 rate. Butto was slightly above average at limiting hard contact. He was in the 53rd percentile of opponent exit velo (88.7 MPH) and the 52nd percentile of barrel percentage at 7.6%. But Butto struggled to limit free passes and had a 12.9% BB%.

For what it’s worth, Butto pitched very well in his seven starts. All seven came in April and May, where he had a 3.08 ERA, 4.17 FIP, and 1.13 WHIP. He had a 24.4% K% and 0.71 HR/9 but dished out walks to 13.5% of the batters he faced. Butto was optioned in mid-May but recalled in July and finished out the season in the bullpen.

The only downside is that Butto didn’t have the greatest ERA estimator numbers. He had just a 4.20 xFIP and a 4.11 SIERA. But he was still in the 73rd percentile of xERA at 3.44. Butto is only entering his age-27 season as well, so he could easily build upon the success he had in 2024.

2) Brandon Sproat

The Mets drafted Brandon Sproat twice. The first time was in the 2022 draft when they took him in the third round out of the University of Florida. The two sides could not converge on a deal, so the Mets took him again, this time in the second round as a senior pick. Sproat did not make his pro debut until this past season. However, he couldn’t have asked for a much more promising season to start his career with.

Sproat pitched a total of 116.1 innings across three levels of the Minor Leagues. The talented right-hander ended the year with a 3.40 ERA, 3.94 FIP, and 1.11 WHIP. Sproat struck out well over a quarter of opponents with a 28.3% K%. He paired that with a respectable 1.08 HR/9 rate, along with a 9.3% walk rate.

Sproat has a wide variety of pitches at his disposal. His four-seamer sits in the mid-to-upper-90s with great movement. MLB Pipeline has it as a 65-grade pitch. His next best offering is his upper-80s change-up, which Baseball America has as a plus offering. Sproat mixes in three breaking pitches. Both his slider and cutter are considered above-average offerings, while his curveball is the worst pitch among his repertoire, but could still be a usable offering. He has also shown better control.

By the end of the year, Sproat became a consensus top 100 prospect. FanGraphs is exceptionally bullish on Sproat, ranking him as the 17th-best prospect in baseball, while MLB Pipeline places him as the 40th best, and Baseball America ranks him as the 61st-best. While Sproat struggled at Triple-A, it was a small sample size of just 28.2 innings pitched. Sproat will be in his age-24 season next year, so an early season promotion isn’t out of the question for him if Holmes struggles or if there is an injury.

3) Tylor Megill

This could be Tylor Megill’s last chance to establish himself as a Major League starter. From his debut in 2021 through 2023, Megill put up just a 4.72 ERA, 4.65 FIP, and 1.42 WHIP. He struck out 22.3% of opponents with an 8.6% walk rate but struggled mightily with home runs. His HR/9 clocked in at 1.50. But while Megill missed a good portion of the 2024 season due to injury, he is coming off his strongest stretch of Major League playing time yet.

Megill pitched 78 innings but had a 4.04 ERA, 3.55 FIP, and 1.31 WHIP. He put up the best single-season K% of his career thus far, 27%, and his best HR/9 rate, 0.92. But he had a sub-par 9.5% walk rate. Megill also clocked in with an 88.9 MPH exit velocity and 8.6% barrel rate, both of which were worse than average.

Megill’s numbers under the hood are promising as well. Along with a sub-4.00 FIP, he also had a solid 3.79 xFIP and 3.81 SIERA. Stuff+, a stat on a scale similar to OPS+ or wRC+ where 100 is average and is based on how good a pitcher’s offerings are, based on velo, movement, arm angle/extension, and more, had Megill at 108. Not only was that a career-best for Megill, but the best among Mets pitchers who made double-digit starts in 2024 (Megill made 15 starts in 16 games).

Megill’s chances to establish himself as a big league rotation arm are running on fumes. But his 2024 season could give him one more chance to prove himself as a starter. His solid underlying numbers are a step in the right direction and could make him one of the better options for the Mets to replace Holmes in the rotation if he happens to struggle.