How Clay Holmes' Injury Impacts Mets, MLB Trade Market

The Mets continue to take hits.

May 15, 2026; New York City, New York, USA; New York Mets pitcher Clay Holmes (35) delivers a pitch during the third inning against the New York Yankees at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images | Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

The New York Mets simply cannot catch a break. On Friday night, right-hander Clay Holmes left the game with a fractured fibula. He was hit by a comebacker from New York Yankees rookie Spencer Jones, and unfortunately for the Mets, manager Carlos Mendoza says that it's going to take "a long time" for him to recover.

With the loss to the Yankees, the Mets dropped to 18-26 and remained in last place in the National League East. This injury is going to have a massive effect on the league, Holmes and the Mets as the rest of the season plays out.

Impact of Holmes' injury

May 15, 2026; New York City, New York, USA; New York Mets pitcher Clay Holmes (35) delivers a pitch during the first inning against the New York Yankees at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images | Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

Holmes is in the final guaranteed year of his contract, but does have a player option for 2027. In nine starts this season for the Mets, the 33-year-old right-hander is 4-4 with a 2.39 ERA.

Because it's going to take a long time for him to return from the injured list, Holmes could potentially decide to pick up his player option at the end of the year. His hot start to the season and the Mets struggles also made him a strong trade candidate. But now, with him on the injured list, he could end up staying with the Mets at the trade deadline instead of being moved.

That also affects the Mets in a big way. Their chance to get a haul of prospects for him at the deadline may be lost now that he is going to be out for quite some time. Then of course, the fact that their best pitcher is going to be out long-term is going to affect the outlook for the rest of the 2026 season.

They need Holmes healthy if they are going to turn things around and get back into contention, but not having him makes things even more difficult, so this may ultimately seal the Mets fate in the standings.

They are 12 1/2 games back of first place in the National League East and eight games back in the wild card race. At this point, they are essentially buried, so losing Holmes may ultimately confirm that the Mets are going to be stuck at the bottom for the rest of the year.

It will be interesting to see how the Mets respond to this, but things are not looking up after Holmes' injury, and it's going to take a miracle for them to turn it around.