NEW YORK -- Mets right-hander Clay Holmes was hoping to pitch in a big league game on Sunday against the Marlins. It would have been his first since May 15, when he suffered a fractured right fibula against the Yankees.
Instead, Holmes had a rehab start for High-A Brooklyn, pitching 5 1/3 innings, allowing four runs (three earned) in a 6-5 victory over Winston-Salem. Holmes, who threw 73 pitches in the game, was able to hold the Dash scoreless in the first two innings, but allowed a run apiece in the next four frames.
“Obviously there are a lot of factors that go into it now, but I’m more than ready to pitch in the big leagues,” Holmes said on Saturday. “You want to get back. It’s the final box to check.”
The question is, will Holmes pitch in a big league game for the Mets or somewhere else? His name has been mentioned in trade talks, and he could be dealt before Monday’s Trade Deadline, which is at 6 p.m. ET.
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“We have to get through the next 24 hours and figure out what happens,” Mets interim manager Andy Green said after New York's 2-0 loss to the Marlins on Sunday. “Once we are on the other side of that, it will become clearer. He is definitely lengthened out to the point where you would expect him to start a Major League game.”
On Saturday, Holmes sounded like a guy whose time in a Mets uniform is almost over. New York's front office has kept him abreast on what his future may look like.
“There are no guarantees in this sport, obviously with the situation that we are in,” Holmes said. “It’s pretty likely [I’ll be traded]. It’s really a wait and see. We’ll see what the next few days hold.
“There has been really good communication [with the team]. I think myself and a lot of players appreciate that. … This time of year, there are a lot of things said. You don’t know what’s true and what’s not sometimes. … Things have been comforting to a degree. It helps you not to check and see what’s out there.”
Before suffering his leg injury, Holmes was one of New York’s most consistent pitchers. In nine starts, he was 4-4 with a 2.39 ERA. His bWAR of 2.0 ranks fifth on the team.
Holmes can be a free agent after 2026 if he doesn't exercise his player option for 2027. There haven’t been any talks with New York about a contract extension. Would he consider returning to the Mets?
“My feelings still haven’t changed about the Mets. Whatever happens here, I still feel the same way,” he said. “There is a level of uncertainty … where it’s hard to predict what’s going to happen at the end of the year. My feelings haven’t changed throughout this whole process.”