Feet of Clay – No Way!

A funny thing happened this off season as David Stearns looked to work his magic of bringing in struggling starters and rehab prospects to squeeze every last dollar of value out of them. He was already “hampered” by the huge dollars committed to Juan Soto, not to mention the many millions of direct deposits already slated for Francisco Lindor, Brandon Nimmo, and the hope and expectation that Pete Alonso would be resigned at a hefty amount.

Bringing back Sean Manaea after the season he had last year was a no-brainer and he was slated at the top of the rotation. Then Frankie “who knows if I will stay healthy” Montas was also signed and in spring training we unfortunately found out that he can’t stay healthy. Manaea also showed us the other side of 30 going down with an injury that will make him miss the first two months or more of the season. Griffin Canning was brought in for depth despite awful career statistics bit oh, what a job he has done. Enough that some pundits are thinking the Mets will trade him when the other starters come off the IL Stearns, Jeremy Hefner and the Mets’ pitching lab were going to be under the microscope yet again, but after last season, we should all have been stronger believers in the Stearns magic. Instead, many of us were big doubters about this staff even as starter after starter powered through 5-6 innings propelling this team to its current first place status.

Perhaps Stearns biggest risk was agreeing to let thirty-two year old Clay Holmes transition from a reliever to a starter signing the 6’5” pitchers to a three year, $38K contract. Prior to 2025, Holmes had appeared in 311 games with just four starts, back in 2018. From 2022-2024 Holmes excelled pitching in relief for the crosstown Yankees, averaging nearly 25 saves a season, including 30 last year where he finished 50 of their games. In 2024, Holmes appeared in 13 post season games, ending with a 3-1 record, a 2.25 ERA and a WHIP of 1.083. None of this translated to a change to the starting rotation.

There were many doubters amongst our group and the easiest rationale for Mets fans was that if the experiment did not work out, Holmes could always move and fortify the pen, even perhaps becoming the closer if Edwin Diaz faltered. While the dollars were a bargain for a starter, they were a bit pricey if he ended up as the 8^th inning setup guy. Then a funny thing happened - Holmes jumped in and has pitched like the ace, something this injured rotation severely needed. Through nine starts, Holmes has a record of 5-2, an ERA of 3.14, and including last week when the Pirates smacked two two-run long balls against him, he has only given up three home runs all year. He has nearly a 3-1 K to walk ratio, and a WHIP of 1.25 and the Mets have won five of his last starts with him pitching five innings in one start and six in the other four. It is not the worst thing to admit that Stearns is better at this game then all of us combined.

The signing of Clay was also a departure from the old ownership who steadfastly refused to let Seth Lugo join the starting rotation, despite a yearly request to do so. The rationale was that he was too strong a bullpen piece with a huge arsenal of pitches and the ability to throw multiple innings at a clip. This thirty-five year old pitcher was both a starter and reliever for the Mets in 2016-17-18 and for a handful of games in 2020. He was hardly ever the closer as evidenced by his tiny amount of saves. After appearing in 62 games a reliever in 2022, Lugo moved on to the San Diego Padres where he started 26 games resulting in a 8-7 record. His breakout season was 2024 after he signed a three-year $45K contract to play for the KC Royals and helped them to a second place 86-76 record, winning 16 of this 33 starts. He was also the runner up in the AL Cy Young competition. This year his record stands at 3-4 after nine starts with a 3.02 ERA and is in no small way is one reason the Royals sit at 25-18, tied for second place in their division.

We have all seen starters who evolved into relief pitchers as their ability started to wane but because of their contracts were not about to be released nor could they be easily traded. Then there is another group that waited until they were no longer strong starters but made a transition to being stars in the pen. Those include Hall of Famers Dennis Eckersley and John Smoltz, both of whom could have gained election either as a starter or reliever. Lesser known names include Tom Gordon, who won 138 games as a starter and added 158 saves, including a record stretch of 42 consecutive saves, and Bob Stanley, who won 115 games as a starter and also recorded 132 saves.

Moving from the pen back into the rotation appears to be something that is gaining traction as teams try to make the best use of their available talent. Jose Butto has long lobbied for a chance to become a starter and might just get his chance next season as he is working under a one year contract. Whether that chance comes in NY or somewhere else remains to be seen.