Holmes showing good progress
Right-hander having success with slider in hopes of making big-league club
BRADENTON, Fla. — Mashed in between an ankle injury and a forearm strain that held him out for almost the entire season, there was exactly one good outing for Clay Holmes in 2020.
Interesting enough, it came on Pirates’ opening day of last season. Holmes entered with two outs in the sixth inning of that July 24 opener against the St. Louis Cardinals, gave up an RBI single, then got the next batters to ground out. He came out for the seventh and lasted four more batters, sitting three of them down to end his game.
That was it. A flash in the pan for the 6-foot-5, 27-year-old. He was unable to return to the Pirates after going on the 10-day injured list in July, and was moved to the 60-day injured list in August with that right forearm strain. He was non-tendered by the club in the offseason, became a free agent and resigned with the Pirates, telling the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette at the time, “I want to be with the Pirates.”
So, Holmes entered spring training as a pitcher with something to prove. In 2018 and 2019, he had a 6.01 ERA in 76⅓ innings, a mark that isn’t erased by a onegame bright spot. So far, he has delivered. In 8⅓ innings of work in the Grapefruit League, he has issued just three walks and allowed just five hits.
“I feel really good. Probably the best I’ve ever felt,” Holmes said. “The sinker feels like it’s a pitch that I can just rip, let it play and get ahead with. The fact that I’m throwing the sinker so well and I have the curveball and slider to go with it, I’m just going in there with a lot of confidence, knowing that I can attack hitters early and let my stuff play.”
Veteran knuckleballer Steven Wright, who signed with the Pirates this week, equated Holmes’ sinker to a 98-mph bowling ball because of the spin he gets on it. That pitch complements the curveball, which he added before 2020, and the slider quite well.
These things were in place for him before 2020, which puts the injuries he suffered in a different, potentially more frustrating, light.
“Had some unfortunate things happen with the ankle,” Holmes said. “Just a crazy season, the build up, a lot of unusual things, and going down with the forearm strain, so I think that I definitely was in a good spot, so it kind of made it a little frustrating, but at the same time, I knew what I was doing and what I was doing to get to that point.”
The question will be whether it’s good enough for the big right-hander to make the opening day roster. For the flaws that people can point out with the current team, they have plenty of bullpen arms who could contribute this season. And the fact that Holmes is not currently on the 40-man roster works against him.
Still, Holmes is encouraged by his most recent outings and how his pitches feel coming out of his hand. Plus, at this point, any pitchers on the precipice of the opening day roster who get cut near the end will likely find their way to the majors at some point this season.
“You’re gonna get some opportunity this year no matter what,” Holmes said.
“We’ve already seen some injuries, and the innings limit, people know there’s going to be opportunity, and we’re going to need a lot of guys and a lot of good innings out of people that may not even make the opening day roster. So I think that people feel that, and it’s created an environment, and the coaching staff’s done a great job, too, people just feel like they can be themselves and go out and compete. I think it’s showing just how comfortable guys are with themselves, who they are as a pitcher.”