As soon as the New York Mets signed the 2024 American League leader in blown saves away from the Yankees on a two-year, $26 million deal with a player option that can take it up to $38 million, we knew this was about to be a one-of-a-kind offseason.
And that was before they vowed to make Clay Holmes, a man prone to notorious bursts of command issues, a starting pitcher.
Signing Holmes at such a hefty cost just to experiment with him spoke volumes about the Mets’ offseason that was about to unfold. If they had enough cash to overpay a reliever and turn him back into a starter after his worst post-breakout season, then there were no limits to their potential expenditures. They were either about to sign Juan Soto to a mega-deal or do some of the most disastrous coping of all time.
And … well … Holmes has spun six shutout innings across two spring training starts with five strikeouts, so what do you think happened?
Clay Holmes this spring:
6.0 IP
5 K
0 RYet to allow a run this spring 🔥
pic.twitter.com/h0njY1Ta2p— MetsMuse (@MetsMuse) February 27, 2025
Former Yankees closer Clay Holmes obviously looks nasty at Mets camp. Duh!
Of course, every Mets fan on Twitter is saying some variation of the same thing: “Wow, the movement is crazy! Now, we just have to see if he can maintain it longer than three innings.” Which … yeah, that’s … the whole thing. That’s like Nestor Cortes saying the Yankees would’ve had a better shot in the World Series if they’d closed out Game 1 and won Games 2 and 5. Doing part of your job as a starting pitcher is one thing. Now, he just has to do the part that distinguishes starters from relievers.
Holmes has allowed a single hit and one measly walk, so … that’s great. Of course, that’s pretty much where Will Warren is, too, so if we’re going to praise Holmes, we have to plainly caveat that it is still February.
At the very least, it’s clear Holmes came to camp on a mission, and translated his offseason work effectively to the diamond, avoiding a costly blow-up through two outings in the spotlight. We still need to see him stretched, though, and we also still have to see him under duress.
Who knows, though? Maybe the fact that he’s almost guaranteed not to see the ninth inning has permanently changed his mindset and allowed him to calmly handle the first eight. He’d better step up. It takes a village to cover for Frankie Montas, after all.
