The New York Mets may have lost their team ERA leader, Clay Holmes, to a hamstring injury on Friday, but an update on the Holmes situation may not be as bad as Mets fans feared.
Manager Carlos Mendoza delivered what sounded like good news on Holmes’ condition later on Friday night. But if Holmes were to be lost, it would be a serious blow to a team that has underperformed so far, getting out of the gate at 7-7. Maintaining solid pitching becomes even more important with the anemic state of the Mets offense, which after Friday’s 4-0 defeat to the Athletics has not scored a run in 17 innings.
Holmes has been a stellar performer so far in the young season. After three starts, he has compiled just a 1.50 ERA, allowing just three runs on 12 hits over 18 innings.
After four years with the New York Yankees, nine-year veteran Holmes signed a three-year, $38 million free agent contract with the Mets before last season. The Mets immediately converted Holmes to a starter, after 307 relief appearances without a start since making only four in his debut season with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2018.
Holmes responded better than the Mets could have expected, making all 31 of his starts, with a pair of relief appearances thrown in as well, and finishing with a very respectable 3.53 ERA.
But the 33-year-old Holmes’ healthy streak could be coming to an end, depending on his latest injury update.
Manager Says Holmes Injury Not Cause For Concern
While there was no word on how Holmes was feeling on Saturday, by early afternoon, following Friday’s game, manager Carlos Mendoza sounded relatively unconcerned about Holmes’ hamstring issue.
“He doesn’t seem too concerned,” Mendoza said, after discussing the injury with Holmes. “He just got to a weird position on a ball that got hit to second base on the at-bat before he came out. He got to a weird position and he felt a little tight there. But the more testing that they’re doing, the better he feels.”
Mendoza added, however, that the Mets would have to wait to see how Holmes responds overnight. But the Mets had no plans to send Holmes for an MRI exam or other imaging for the injury, Mendoza said on Friday night.
Holmes himself also attempted to alleviate concerns about the hamstring “tightness” that caused him to exit the game against the Athletics.
“There was just kind of a weird feeling and some unsureness about what was going on,” Holmes said, as quoted by MLB.com reporter Anthony DiComo. “I think [we] just made the smart decision to not make it worse. But hopefully, we’re in a good spot. It doesn’t seem too major.”
Holmes added that he feels “optimistic” about the injury and expects to make his next start on schedule.
What if Holmes Misses Time After All?
While the Mets offense is struggling, the starting pitching has stayed healthy until Holmes’ injury on Friday. Mets starters rank 10th in MLB with a 3.55 ERA through the first 14 games. But what happens if they do, in fact, lose Holmes for any length of time?
“The leading candidate to replace him would be Sean Manaea, who has stayed stretched out in the bullpen since the Mets decided not to open the season with him as part of a six-man rotation,” DiComo reported.
On Saturday, the Mets attempt to end a three-game losing streak, a span over which they have scored only three runs while allowing 18. Kodai Senga (0-1, 3.09) takes the mound against Athletics left-hander Jacob Lopez, who has surrendered a 6.48 ERA over two starts.
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