2025 Fantasy Baseball: Grant Holmes Profile, Preview, Predictions

Grant Holmes will be a tease arm for some drafters, especially when adding his spring training success (one run, three hits, five walks, and nine strikeouts over 10 innings). He has a trick-or-treat profile heading into 2025 that I will be fading.

SP – Grant Holmes, ATL (ADP – 290.8)

2025 Grant Holmes Pitching Stats Profile | Shawn Childs

The Dodgers drafted Holmes with the 22nd pick in the first round in 2014 out of high school. He struggled to find his way in the minors over his first eight seasons, leading to a 4.68 ERA, 1.46 WHIP, and 639 strikeouts over 633.1 innings. He missed time in 2018 and 2019 with a right shoulder injury (rotator cuff), followed by no minor league baseball in 2020.

Over the past two seasons, Holmes pitched well at AAA (3.18 ERA, 1.25 WHIP, and 125 strikeouts over 102.0 innings) for the Braves, but he only made three starts. Atlanta called him up in mid-June last year, leading to surprising results over his 26 games (seven starts). His arm performed better in the relief (3.12 ERA, 1.125 WHIP, and 30 strikeouts over 34.2 innings). His struggles in Atlanta’s rotation came with home runs (six over 33.2 innings – 4.12 ERA).

His average fastball (94.9 – .259 BAA) was slightly higher than his limited innings in the minors in 2022 and 2023. Holmes added a curveball (.198 BAA) in 2024 while upping the usage of his losing cutter (.417 BAA). He continues to throw a slider (.208 BAA) as his best pitch. Left-handed batters hit .271 against him over 118 at-bats, with no home runs.

Fantasy Outlook: When setting the Braves starting rotation for my projections, I only gave Holmes 15 starts, which could be generous. His stuff was improved, but his arsenal won’t hold up deep in games. Last year, he threw more than 70 pitches in only three games (78, 98, and 95), a sign of a quick hook on many nights and minimal wins. Holmes is a player I’ll avoid this year, as I believe his risk outweighs his reward.

RANKINGS