Clay Holmes is coming into unfamiliar territory this spring, swapping Tampa for Port St. Lucie and the reliever life for a beginning position.
So one of many extra intriguing members of the Mets rotation arrived at their spring coaching advanced over every week in the past — with pitchers and catchers not required to report till Feb. 12 — to get a head begin on his buildup.
The previous Yankees nearer, who signed with the Mets on a three-year, $38 million contract final month, is inspired by how the transition to turning into a starter has gone thus far.
“It’s not like I’m having to necessarily change who I am as a pitcher,” Holmes mentioned Saturday on the Mets fan fest at Citi Area. “It’s like, you do these things, and there’s a lot of belief there that a lot of good can come from being a starting pitcher.”
The Mets are banking on that being the case with Holmes a part of a rotation that has loads of upside — with no true ace — however a good quantity of danger as nicely.
They re-signed Sean Manaea, coming off a profession 12 months, to anchor the group and hope to have potential ace Kodai Senga coming again wholesome after an injury-marred 2024.
Together with Holmes, the Mets signed Frankie Montas — one other ex-Yankee who has been efficient when not battling accidents — with David Peterson, Griffin Canning, Paul Blackburn and Tylor Megill additionally anticipated to be within the combine.
“We like not only the top of our rotation, but we like our depth,” supervisor Carlos Mendoza mentioned Saturday.
Holmes, who has solely began 4 video games within the majors (all coming as a rookie in 2018 with the Pirates), is without doubt one of the arms that would assist elevate the group.
And earlier than he even threw a pitch in a Mets uniform, he obtained a nod of reassurance from Mendoza, who indicated that Holmes will stick within the rotation by way of good occasions and unhealthy so long as he’s holding up nicely bodily.
“I know either way, I have to be my best self as a pitcher,” Holmes mentioned. “That’s what I have to focus on. If I’m doing that, I’m going to be a good starting pitcher.”
To ensure that that to occur, Holmes spent his offseason including to his arsenal.
Whereas he was predominantly a sinker-slider pitcher with the Yankees — to largely robust outcomes, although he misplaced his job because the nearer to Luke Weaver late within the 2024 season — opposing batters hit Holmes’ bread-and-butter sinker (.317) higher than they ever had final season.
He threw the pitch 56.3 % of the time and much more typically (63.2 %) in opposition to left-handed hitters, who hit .346 off it.
Due to that, Holmes knew he was most likely going to should develop his arsenal even when he remained a reliever.
He had tinkered with a changeup within the bullpen final 12 months and added a four-seam fastball simply in time for the playoffs, with encouraging leads to a small pattern dimension.
Now he has spent the offseason refining each pitches and likes what he has seen thus far.
“The metrics on [the changeup] are probably better than my sinker right now, so I just need to see hitters swing at it, really,” Holmes mentioned. “Add that in to lefties, I think it’s going to make the four-seam play even more.”
