Clay Holmes, the right-handed pitcher for the New York Mets, achieved his third quality start out of his last four games this past Friday, allowing just one run across six innings during a victory over the Chicago Cubs (box score). Now into his eighth start of the season, Holmes has successfully posted a 2.74 ERA (with a 145 ERA+) and maintains a 2.75 strikeout-to-walk ratio while averaging more than five innings per game. His impressive performance already surpasses his Wins Above Replacement from the last year, as per Baseball Reference estimates. Holmes’s comeback as a starter after a long gap since 2018 has clearly been fruitful through the current quarter of the baseball season.
To achieve this transition successfully, he has expanded his pitch selection. Unlike last season, when he mainly utilized three pitches, he now relies on six pitches with a usage rate of at least 5%. Notably, he has introduced an upper-80s kick changeup, which has quickly risen to be his second most frequently used pitch. This changeup is designed by merging changeup grips with a “spiked” finger action.
Holmes’s kick changeup has a similar horizontal break to his sinker but offers more downward movement and less spin, making it highly effective—opponents have managed just a .179 batting average against this pitch, achieving a 37.7% whiff rate. Here’s a glimpse of the pitch in action:
Clay Holmes, Filthy 88mph Kick Change. 👌 pic.twitter.com/M1Yo0WxPIm — Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) April 15, 2025.
“Adding the changeup has been a huge help,” Holmes remarked post-game. “I was able to use it against left-handed hitters and in crucial situations. It’s become a significant pitch for me. Overall, I’ve been content. Trusting my pitches in the strike zone has been key.”
In addition to the changeup, Holmes has also started employing a cutter and a four-seamer, utilizing them strategically; the cutter is mainly reserved for lefties, while the four-seamer is employed to vary eye levels. These adjustments have allowed him to thrive despite a slight decline in the velocity of his sinker, which has dipped by more than three miles per hour in longer outings.
Importantly, Holmes’s handling of workloads in the transition back to starting pitching will be closely monitored as he approaches unprecedented innings count territory, potentially setting a new career high within fewer than six starts. The Mets should be pleased with Holmes’s progress, as well as the overall effectiveness of their starting lineup, which is currently leading the league in ERA without contributions yet from other expected pitchers like Sean Manaea, Frankie Montas, Paul Blackburn, and Christian Scott.
