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Jorge Castillo, ESPN Staff WriterDec 17, 2024, 05:31 PM ET
- ESPN baseball reporter. Covered the Washington Wizards from 2014 to 2016 and the Washington Nationals from 2016 to 2018 for The Washington Post before covering the Los Angeles Dodgers and MLB for the Los Angeles Times from 2018 to 2024.
Clay Holmes did not enter free agency determined to transition back to becoming a starting pitcher again after spending three-plus seasons as one of baseball’s best relievers with the New York Yankees. But when the possibility presented itself, the two-time All-Star closer decided he would have regretted not giving it a try.
“I didn’t want to look back at the end of my career and say, ‘Man, what could have come from that?'” Holmes said.
Holmes was introduced Tuesday as a member of the New York Mets — as a starting pitcher, not a reliever — after signing a three-year, $38 million contract with a $12 million player option for the third season in 2027. The right-hander garnered interest from multiple teams both as a starter and reliever, though he has not started a game since his rookie season in 2018 with the Pittsburgh Pirates. He said the Yankees did not discuss converting him to a starter.
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He is one of two starting pitchers the Mets have signed this offseason, joining right-hander Frankie Montas.
“There’s a lot of reasons why the Mets drew me in,” Holmes, 31, said. “For one, I think the leadership here. Starts with the Cohen family and David Stearns and Carlos Mendoza. I think just seeing their leadership and their vision, their belief, is definitely something that was very appealing. I think the culture here they’ve created is something that I think people want to be a part of.”
Drafted as a starter out of high school in 2011, Holmes explained the thought of transitioning back to starting remained in the back of his mind as he established himself as a reliever over the years. He said he found interest from overseas as a starting pitcher after the 2020 season but remained with the Pirates to begin the 2021 campaign. That summer, he was traded to New York, where he enjoyed immediate success as a setup man before becoming the club’s closer in 2022.
During bullpen sessions this season he fooled around with a four-seam fastball and changeup, pitches that could compliment his elite sinker, slider, and sweeper to round out a starter’s arsenal. By the end of the year, he jokingly wondered if a return to starting was possible. He realized it wasn’t farfetched early in the offseason when he met with teams in free agency. He found a few were open to the possibility.
“It was something that still, deep down, I had a passion for and excited me,” Holmes said.
Holmes will find a familiar face helping guide his transition in Desi Druschel, whom the Mets hired away from the Yankees to become their assistant pitching coach last month. The metamorphosis will begin with a slightly different offseason training program — more conditioning and continuing to build up stamina through January — and require several adjustments once the season begins to manage the increased workload.
Holmes said his “intention” is to throw at least 160 innings in 2025 — a number he has never reached as a professional. He last threw at least 100 innings in 2018 when he combined for 127 ⅔ frames between the minors and majors. His career high as a pro is 136 ⅓ innings in 2016.
“It’s hard to put arbitrary numbers on things and say, ‘If you get to this number, that’s all you can handle,” Holmes said. “I don’t so much believe in that. I think there’s definitely things you need to monitor and see. How your body’s holding up and the strength and some mobility things.”
Holmes won’t be the first pitcher to attempt the conversion. A few reliever-turned-starters shined in 2024: Michael King, Holmes’s former Yankees teammate, transitioned from shutdown reliever with New York to frontline starter with the San Diego Padres while Seth Lugo finished second in American League Cy Young voting with the Kansas City Royals, and Reynaldo Lopez was an All-Star for the Atlanta Braves.
Each pitcher is different, with different repertoires at different stages of their careers. For Holmes, continuing his success as an elite reliever was on the table. But he couldn’t turn down the opportunity to return to his roots.
“When you see guys make the transition, it’s definitely like, ‘Man, this is possible. This is cool,'” Holmes said. “There’s kind of somewhat of a little road map. You see other guys do it. It’s not super common, but you don’t feel like you’re in uncharted water.”
