Clay Holmes is a free agent after a solid three-year run in the New York Yankees bullpen, mostly as the closer. Thus, imagine the shock when the Post reported a handful of teams, including the crosstown rival New York Mets, are interested in signing Holmes…as a starter.
Yes, you read that correctly. Some teams believe that Clay Holmes, the former random bullpen righty turned All-Star stopper, is starter material. Forget that he hasn’t started a game since 2018. So what if he’ll be 32 years old by Opening Day? It’s worth the risk, and he just goes back to his high leverage bullpen role if it doesn’t work out well.
In seven years with the Pirates and Yankees, Holmes has a 3.71 ERA in 311 career games (four starts). However, he didn’t really find consistent success until being traded to New York in 2021. Holmes posted a 2.69 ERA and 74 saves in pinstripes and set himself up for a big payday in free agency.
But as a starter? That’s farfetched. Granted, there are pitchers who have succeeded both in the rotation and the closer’s role. Hall of Famers Dennis Eckersley and John Smoltz are the only two players to have at least 150 wins and 150 saves each. Journeyman Tom Gordon also went this route, finishing his 21-year career with 138 wins and 158 saves.
Except their situation is the reverse. Those three were starters before becoming closers, and Smoltz even went back to starting after three-and-a-half years in the ‘pen. Not only has Holmes not started a game since 2018, as we mentioned before, but he also hasn’t been a full-time starter since the minors.
Now, let’s talk about Clay Holmes from a pure pitching standpoint. He’s known for his infamous two-planed “demon” sinker, which he pairs with a slider and sweeper. As is typical for most high leverage relievers, Holmes is just as good (if not better) at issuing walks than he is strikeouts. He’s allowed over four walks per nine innings (BB/9) compared to 9.6 strikeouts per nine (K/9).
As a result, Holmes was no stranger to the occasional ugly blown save…except he led MLB with 13 of them last season. Remember his pitch selection: the demon sinker, slider, and sweeper. Each of those pitches depends on both movement and the batter chasing the pitch out of the zone.
No disrespect to Clay Holmes, but that is simply not a starting pitcher’s job. If a guy in the rotation features a sinker, it’s more your standard-edition two-seamer a la Zack Britton instead of something that moves like a slider.
This means Holmes will need to work on an establishing four-seamer, of which he has thrown 207 in his whole career. The Yankees didn’t want him throwing a regular fastball at all, and now teams are suddenly interested in him as a starter?
Granted, we’ve seen recent success in terms of teams converting relievers into starters. Former Met Seth Lugo threw nine different pitches en route to finishing second in AL Cy Young voting. Even former Yankee Michael King falls under this umbrella.
But even then there are differences. Name a pitcher besides Lugo who throws that many pitches without overly relying on one. You can’t.
Watch King pitch and say his automatically going into “F*** YOU” mode has no role in him getting the right grip and spin on his pitches. That’s a take worse than whatever Sal Licata dreams up two minutes before showtime.
Holmes, as we saw all of last season, always seemed to lose focus in the closest games. For example, opposing hitters batted .271 with a .748 OPS with two outs and runners in scoring position. He’ll allow a lot more baserunners pitching multiple innings as a starter, which means the walks will have to be under control.
This is all a big, big risk to take. And yet, the Mets and others think it’s worth it 1) because they think they can get something out of Holmes’ four-seamer (or lack thereof) and 2) they think he can be taught how to include a changeup too.
Teams who are desperate for pitching often sound exactly like this.
The game tape is there and so are the stats. Clay Holmes, like millions of other relievers before him, was a failed starter in the minors, banished to the ‘pen by high walks. Teams can try to convert him back into one, but why bother?
Clay Holmes is an All-Star closer, so let him be signed as an All-Star closer.
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