Soto puts on a show, Holmes named Opening Day starter

Juan Soto homers, drives in two and makes a sliding catch in his latest spring game. Plus, some words on Clay Holmes.

What’s up with the Mets? 🌴

• The Mets finished their latest game with a 3-3 tie against the Cardinals on Friday evening (box)

• RF Juan Soto put on a show yet again going 2-for-3 with a home run (4) and two RBI while making a nice sliding catch in right field

• RHP Kodai Senga struggled on the mound, allowing two runs on seven hits with just one strikeout over 3.1 innings

• Senga has added a new slow curve to his pitch arsenal that he’s calling “The Miracle Ball” (MLB.com)

• SS Francisco Lindor went 1-for-4 with a run scored in the game, but is hitting just .171 over 35 at-bats this spring

• 2B Brett Baty went 1-for-3 at the plate with a double and is now hitting .375 with a 1.100 OPS over his first 13 games of Spring Training

• RHP Trey McLoughlin struck out the side in a scoreless inning of relief

• Manager Carlos Mendoza announced that RHP Clay Holmes would be the club’s Opening Day starter on March 27th in Houston

• Former Mets RHP Luis Severino called New York’s training staff “next level” when it came to player health management (Foul Territory)

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Today’s Game 🗓️

Match-up: Mets (8-10) at Nationals (10-9)

Where: CACTI Park of the Palm Beaches — West Palm Beach, FL

Starters: RHP Clay Holmes (1-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. LHP Mitchell Parker (0-0, 4.91 ERA)

When: 6:05 PM EST

Where to Watch: N/A

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Clay Holmes being named Opening Day starter is nothing to dismiss ✍️

Friday brought some interesting news in Metsland as manager Carlos Mendoza announced that right-handed pitcher Clay Holmes would officially be the club’s Opening Day starter in 2025.

When Holmes initially signed with the team in early December, there were few (if any) who could have imagined this day coming for a myriad of reasons.

The obvious, of course, being that Holmes has been spending this offseason and spring converting from being a relief pitcher to a starter at the major league level for the first time since his rookie season back in 2018 with the Pirates. It’s also rare for a newcomer that isn’t a bonafide ace to get the Opening Day nod, especially with three pitchers in Sean Manaea, Kodai Senga, and David Peterson who have contributed greatly to the club recently.

But with the oblique injury to Manaea and Senga still ramping up after nearly missing the entire 2024 regular season, that opened up an opportunity for someone to grab.

It was interesting to see the reaction to the news yesterday, to say the least. I’m not sure anyone was necessarily expecting it, even with the injury to Manaea, so for Mets fans to be a bit surprised was nothing too unusual. There were some others, however, who tried to use this announcement as yet another opportunity to take shots at this club.

But after you sift through the Yankees fans that are still bitter about Juan Soto (it’s been three months, guys, can we move on?), fans of the division rivals that the Mets outlasted last year, and the particular crop of Mets fans who will look to be pessimistic no matter what happens, it’s hard to find anyone mocking the decision in good faith.

Sure, the Mets starting rotation is a major question mark entering this season, where contending is the base-level expectation. That was the case before the injuries to Manaea and Frankie Montas, and it’s all-the-more under the microscope now. Those are fair concerns; ones that I share myself.

That being said, Holmes being named the team’s Opening Day starter is no laughing matter because – while it’s only Spring Training – this guy already looks for real.

Through three starts this spring, the 31-year-old Holmes has yet to allow a single run, pitching 9.2 scoreless innings with 13 strikeouts while allowing just two hits and four walks. Perhaps what has been the most notable through these first three appearances is how Holmes’ pitch arsenal has already begun to expand.

Outside of getting his arm stretched out, adding pitches to his repertoire was going to be the biggest key for Holmes as he transitioned from late-inning reliever to starting pitcher for the first time in seven years. So far in the limited action we’ve seen, that’s gone quite well.

In his three starts in Grapefruit League play, Holmes has consistently thrown five different pitches – a four-seam fastball, sweeper, slider, sinker, and the change-up that he refers to as the “kick change.” What’s even more encouraging is that Holmes’ 13 strikeouts have come all on five of those pitches, including four via that new kick change pitch. (Credit: ESPN)

Holmes’ next start of the spring will be later tonight in West Palm Beach against the Nationals, but at this point, he really doesn’t have anything left to prove… at least in exhibition games.

The true litmus test for Holmes will of course come when the regular season begins and the games count for real. I will be truly fascinated to see how this transformation goes for him, and I genuinely believe that it can be one that has great success.

Not only has the Mets pitching lab had a lot of wins already in the early days of the David Stearns era with Sean Manaea, Luis Severino, and David Peterson all shining last season, but there has also been a good track record of relievers converting into starting pitchers over the last few years across the league. We’ve already seen guys like Seth Lugo, Michael King, and Reynaldo López pitch like aces after converting back to being starting pitchers, so why can’t Holmes be the next one?

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Around the League 🚩

• Braves 3B Austin Riley exited the team’s most recent game after being hit in the hand by a pitch

• Yankees LHP Carlos Rodón was officially named the club’s Opening Day starter

• Blue Jays RHP Erik Swanson is dealing with carpal tunnel syndrome after fears that he may have been suffering from a more serious elbow injury