Clay Holmes told reporters on Tuesday that he had never spoken with the Yankees about potentially taking on a starter role, but the seeds towards his new contract with the Mets were planted while the Yankee closer was still throwing his bullpen sessions in pinstripes.
While Holmes navigated through a season in which he went from All-Star for the second time in three seasons to leading the league in blown saves (and ultimately losing his closer job), he playfully toyed with secondary pitches in between appearances, and it helped him earn a three-year, $38 million deal to move across town.
“It's something that I've always had in the back of my mind throughout my career…It’s something that’s always been there for me,” Holmes said.
“Even this year…in my bullpens I was throwing a changeup, throwing a fourseam, just to keep things fun and light. I think out of that, realizing what could be an arsenal…towards the end of the year there was a ‘what if this happens?’ type thing…it’s something my agent and I had, and at the end of the day, the opportunity is here. I didn’t want to look back at the end of my career and say ‘Man, what could have come from that?’”
Holmes won’t have to ponder that question anymore, as the Mets will take a chance on making him a starter for the first time since his first big-league season back in 2018 with the Pirates. Evolving relievers into starters has become a more frequent practice across the league in recent years, including Holmes’ former Yankee teammate Michael King, who thrived with the Padres in 2024. For Holmes, it’s been even longer since he took the ball as a starter, but he believes he has been working towards this possibility for a while now, and has big goals for his first full season as a starter.
“I think there’s definitely things you need to monitor to see how your body is holding up…but my intention gong in is to throw about 160 innings,” Holmes said. “I want to throw as many innings as I can…I have a lot of confidence in the training staff, there are things we've already identified that could be really big for me.”
To log 160 innings in 2025 would mean equaling his workload since about the midway points of the 2022 season, so there is a long way to go for Holmes to be an effective starter. He will need to gain enough confidence in that fastball and changeup that he toyed with during bullpen sessions with the Yankees to be able to utilize them in games, as he has mainly been a two pitch pitcher (sinker and slider) for years. He will need to build up his stamina as well, but he has a full offseason to do it, and given the Mets recent track record under pitching coach Jeremy Hefner, the team has shown an ability to get the most out of pitchers who are believed to have a certain ceiling. Sean Manaea and Luis Severino were resounding success stories for the Mets in 2024, as was David Peterson. It was all part of the draw that led Holmes across town to Queens.
“The leadership here, as far as the Cohen family and David Stearns…just seeing their leadership and their vision, their belief is something that was very appealing,” Holmes said. “I think the culture here that they've created is something that people want to be a part of. There’s a real momentum here.”