NEW YORK — After spending six years in the bullpen, Clay Holmes is confident he can become an effective starting pitcher and he’s excited about the change.
He also was optimistic his move across town to the New York Mets might even send a positive signal to a certain superstar teammate: slugger Juan Soto.
Holmes agreed to a three-year, $38 million contract with the Mets before Soto also left the American League champion New York Yankees for a record 15-year, $765 million deal with their crosstown rivals.
“Deep down, I can’t lie,” Holmes said on a Zoom call with reporters. “I mean, I obviously made my decision because I think it’s the best place. But hopefully, you know, I was like, maybe Juan sees this and sees that the water’s fine and will follow me over here. So, I’m super pumped for it.”
A two-time All-Star as the Yankees’ closer, Holmes was a starter in the minors and said the idea of switching back has always been in the back of his mind. He was even “somewhat excited” back in 2020 about the prospect of possibly starting for a team overseas.
As a reliever, the right-hander relied heavily on a nasty sinker that averaged 96.6 mph last season. He threw it 56% of the time, along with 23% sliders and 21% sweepers, and that repertoire helped produce a 68.6% groundball rate over the past three years that was the best in the majors.
Those numbers are a big reason Holmes profiles as a pitcher who could potentially work deep into games, quieting hitters from both sides of the plate.
But he also practiced a changeup and four-seam fastball to keep things fun during bullpen sessions this year with Yankees assistant pitching coach Desi Druschel, hired by the Mets this offseason to serve in the same role.
“I think just, there’s some room there for an arsenal that’s kind of tough to do as a reliever,” Holmes said. “You have a very limited window and pitches you can keep sharp, and you kind of have to rely on your strengths a lot more. But I do think I have the depth, the arsenal to be a little more unpredictable than just relying on my sinker all the time. And I think starting gives me the best opportunity to do that and expose it. So, I’m excited to see what this could bring, the changeup and the four-seam.”
Holmes made 114 starts in the minor leagues, but his only four in the majors came as a rookie with Pittsburgh in 2018.
Once he became a free agent this fall, Holmes said he met with clubs that expressed an interest…