Yankees' Free Agent Reliever Drawing Interest as Starter

One of the Yankees' All-Star relievers may have potential as a rotation arm.

Oct 30, 2024; New York, New York, USA; New York Yankees pitcher Clay Holmes (35) throws during the seventh inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers in game five of the 2024 MLB World Series at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images | Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images

Clay Holmes became accustomed to finishing games with the New York Yankees, but now he could be starting them with another team.

According to the New York Post's Joel Sherman, multiple teams have inquired about Holmes transitioning from a high-leverage reliever to a starting pitcher; this even includes the cross-town rival Mets. It is worth mentioning that the 31-year-old righty was a starter back when he was in the minor leagues, but he hadn't started a game since 2018, back when he was with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

"Teams are more aggressively looking at relievers returning to the rotation due to recent success in that area," Sherman wrote in his December 2 article.

https://t.co/5TyPp3FYT1 The Mets are among the teams who have expressed interest in Clay Holmes -- as a starting pitcher.

— Joel Sherman (@Joelsherman1) December 2, 2024

The Yankees themselves participated in this trend to strong results, as they helped develop dependable setup man Michael King into a rapidly-blossoming rotation arm, subsequently using him as a centerpiece in the Juan Soto trade with the San Diego Padres last offseason (King has further developed in San Diego, finishing seventh in NL Cy Young voting). Other notable examples of successful relievers-turned-starters are Reynaldo Lopez and Seth Lugo of the Atlanta Braves and Kansas City Royals, respectively; the latter was notably a finalist for the AL Cy Young Award.

As for Holmes, despite leading the majors with 13 blown saves in 2024 and eventually losing the closing job to Luke Weaver, his Yankee tenure was a great success as he made two All-Star teams; in three-and-a-half seasons, the righty accumulated a 2.69 ERA and an impressive 2.74 FIP, along with an eye-opening 1.35 ERA in postseason play.

There are two factors behind the interest in Holmes's potential as a starter. The first is his pitch mix, which consists of a remarkably heavy sinker, along with a traditional four-seam fastball, two sliders (one of which is a sweeper), and possibly a changeup in the future to keep hitters off-balance. The second, and arguably more important, factor is the righty's durability, as he's pitched in over 60 games in each of the last four seasons; although most of Holmes's appearances have been for one inning, he's no stranger to accumulating high pitch counts (even in clean outings) without showing fatigue.

Even with the roller-coaster 2024 that hurt his stock as a closer, Holmes may have a brand new opportunity ahead of him thanks to his overall strong body of work and his continual development since being traded to the Bronx.