Mets' Clay Holmes primed for starting role ahead of Opening Day

Now that spring training has come and gone, the New York Mets, and starting pitcher Clay Holmes, have their sights set on Opening Day.

The 2025 campaign will be the first time the right-hander has been a starter since 2018, when he made four starts with the Pittsburgh Pirates in his major-league debut season.

No one could have expected him to put on the type of performance he did during the spring. Holmes, 31, posted a 0.93 ERA, a 0.78 WHIP and 23 strikeouts in 19.1 innings across five Grapefruit League games. 

The Mets' goal with Holmes was to stretch him out so that he would be more comfortable on the bump when the season came around. This idea came to fruition in his final tune-up of the spring against the St. Louis Cardinals.

In 5.1 innings, his longest outing thus far, Holmes allowed no runs on two hits and three walks and struck out eight on 88 pitches. Not to mention 53 of those 88 pitches were strikes.

"It doesn't feel like things are really ending for me," Holmes said, per SNY's Robert Sanchez. "I feel like it's just another part of the process, but I feel like the plan we had in place from the get-go was right on track and we wanted to get to 90 pitches by the end of spring and we're here."

The problem with Holmes has never been about the quality of his pitches. Rather, it has been about his control and his ability to find the strike zone. The other glaring issue with Holmes' game is his consistency from the beginning of the year to the end of the year. 

According to ESPN, Holmes was untouchable for the first two months of the 2024 season and posted a 0.00 ERA across 14 games. Then as the months went on, he went on a decline and had his worst month of the year in September as his ERA ballooned up to 6.00 in just 12 games. The same scenario may not happen this season, but it is good to keep it in mind as the year progresses. 

Holmes, though, has welcomed the opportunity that he has been given as he readies to pitch against the Houston Astros on March 27 for Opening Day.

"I'm excited, I mean Opening Day is a special day," Holmes said. "It's a long offseason and this is a day you're kind go working towards and for it to be here it feels special. And to be able to have the Mets uniform on and really compete and be on the field with the guys in this locker room is gonna be special."