New York Mets should make another rotation change

Length has been an issue for Holmes, who hasn't tossed more than 5.1 innings in a start since June 7th. While some of that may be by design as the Mets have a plan to manage Holmes' innings jump from reliever to starting pitcher, there has been a noticeable downturn in Holmes' results over the past two months.

While other relievers have successfully made the transition to starting, such as former Met Seth Lugo with the Kansas City Royals last season, it appears that Holmes is hitting a wall as he struggles the deeper he gets into games. The 32-year-old has already thrown 126 innings this season, easily exceeding his career high of 75 with the New York Yankees last season, which included their trip to the World Series.

Mets Should Shift Clay Holmes To The Bullpen Down The Stretch

There should be long term value for Holmes as a starting pitcher, but the Mets can't ignore his diminishing returns at this point of the season. With Nolan McLean set to make his big league debut on Saturday in Montas' rotation spot, the Mets should consider bringing up Brandon Sproat to fill Holmes' slot.

While there is risk that a young pitcher will need time to adjust to big league pitching, Sproat would offer the potential for more length than Holmes, who was reportedly targeting a jump to about 150 innings pitched during the regular season. That length could be critical to preserving the Mets' super bullpen so that it doesn't run out of gas prior to the postseason.

The Mets could work on transitioning Holmes into a multi-inning relief role, which would keep him reasonably stretched out and allow him to work behind one of the young starters on a given day. Such a move would allow the Mets to manage Holmes' innings carefully while giving him the ability to fill in as an extra starter during a few lengthy stretches in the schedule without an off day.

Moving Holmes to the bullpen wouldn't be an admission of failure on the idea of making him a starting pitcher; rather, it would offer a constructive way for the Mets to build his innings without taxing Holmes too much. The roster mechanics of such a move may be tricky now, which could indicate the Mets wait until September to consider that idea, but they should strongly consider another rotation move to maximize their postseason odds.