{"id":40581,"date":"2025-03-12T06:57:39","date_gmt":"2025-03-12T06:57:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=40581"},"modified":"2025-03-12T06:57:39","modified_gmt":"2025-03-12T06:57:39","slug":"breaking-surging-hurler-called-mets-x-factor-before-2025-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=40581","title":{"rendered":"BREAKING: Surging hurler called Mets&#8217; X-factor before 2025 season"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure>\n<div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/images2.minutemediacdn.com\/image\/upload\/c_crop,w_4904,h_2758,x_0,y_172\/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto\/images\/ImagnImages\/mmsport\/inside_the_mets\/01jp3hg1fv76dsc8q5h4.jpg\" alt=\"Feb 12, 2025; Port St. Lucie, FL, USA; New York Mets pitcher Clay Holmes (35) pitches during a Spring Training workout at Clover Park. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images\" \/><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<div class=\"tagStyle_1bmarg5-o_O-style_gt0nzj-o_O-sidesPadding_1kaga1a\">\n<div>This starting pitcher could be the New York Mets&#8217; biggest difference maker, for better or worse.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p data-mm-id=\"_gr8iwl2xl\">On March 9, New York Mets starting pitcher Clay Holmes threw 3.2 scoreless innings that included conceding just one hit and three walks while also striking out three.<\/p>\n<p data-mm-id=\"_y779ck3nh\">This is yet another successful spring training outing for the former New York Yankees closer. In fact, Holmes has yet to allow a single run and recorded 13 strikeouts in 9.2 innings thrown over his three spring training starts.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">9.2 scoreless innings to start the spring for Clay Holmes \ud83d\udcaa <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/SPwUwwVsZi\">pic.twitter.com\/SPwUwwVsZi<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; SNY Mets (@SNY_Mets) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SNY_Mets\/status\/1898801584663916895?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">March 9, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p data-mm-id=\"_av58dotcl\">The Mets&#8217; decision to sign Holmes to a three-year, $38 million deal this offseason and then turning him into a starting pitcher after not being used as a starter in MLB since 2018 raised many eyebrows around the league. However, this decision now seems ingenious; especially after Holmes&#8217; rotation mates Sean Manaea and Frankie Montas suffered injuries earlier in spring training.<\/p>\n<p data-mm-id=\"_a66gyxz1f\">And it&#8217;s for this reason that <em>Bleacher Report&#8217;s<\/em> Zachary D. Rymer deemed Holmes the Mets&#8217; &#8220;biggest X-factor&#8221; heading into the 2025 season in a March 9 article.<\/p>\n<p data-mm-id=\"_9fqe1vn2g\">Read more: Has this &#8216;wild&#8217; Mets offseason decision already backfired?<\/p>\n<p data-mm-id=\"_0o1lyj9cd\">&#8220;Holmes as a starting pitcher is nothing if not a fun idea, and his expanded repertoire and sizzling spring training performance\u00a0bode well\u00a0for him pulling off the transition,&#8221; Rymer wrote.<\/p>\n<p data-mm-id=\"_1d9cv5whh\">&#8220;Yet because of injuries to Sean Manaea and Frankie Montas and Kodai Senga&#8217;s own injury history, a successful transition for Holmes is suddenly more necessity than luxury. Suffice it to say that if it does happen, the Mets need to immediately raise pitching coach Jeremy Hefner&#8217;s salary so he stays happy.&#8221;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">EVERY MLB team&#39;s biggest X-factor heading into the 2025 season \u274c <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/zachrymer?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@zachrymer<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/eZbtUoHWY9\">https:\/\/t.co\/eZbtUoHWY9<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/P9KS3PBNUQ\">pic.twitter.com\/P9KS3PBNUQ<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; B\/R Walk-Off (@BRWalkoff) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BRWalkoff\/status\/1899490507857998309?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">March 11, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p data-mm-id=\"_8lc008b2h\">After an excellent start to the 2024 campaign, Holmes&#8217; production diminished significantly in the season&#8217;s second half. Even if Montas and Manaea are back healthy by the summer, New York can ill-afford something similar from Holmes this season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On March 9, New York Mets starting pitcher Clay Holmes threw 3.2 scoreless innings that included conceding just one hit and three walks while also striking out<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":40582,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-40581","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>BREAKING: Surging hurler called Mets&#039; X-factor before 2025 season - NEWS USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=40581\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"BREAKING: Surging hurler called Mets&#039; 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