The Pirates announced Thursday that they’ve selected the contract of right-hander Clay Holmes. Pittsburgh also placed lefty Steven Brault on the 60-day injured list due to a strained left lat and placed righty Cody Ponce on the 10-day IL with forearm tightness. Righty Kyle Crick has been placed on the Covid-19 list as he goes through intake testing after being away from the team for the birth of his child.
Holmes, 28, was non-tendered by the Pirates back in December after missing much of the 2020 season due to a forearm strain. He quickly re-signed on a minor league pact, however, and he’s back on the club’s roster to begin the 2021 campaign.
The 2011 ninth-rounder has spent time with the Bucs in each of the past three seasons, pitching to a combined 5.91 ERA in 77 2/3 frames. Certainly, that’s not a great track record, but Holmes’ 59.2 percent ground-ball rate since 2018 ranks 12th among 484 big league pitchers with at least 70 innings thrown in that time. He also owns a lifetime 3.58 ERA in 223 2/3 innings of work in Triple-A, so the Pirates clearly believe there’s still some potential for him to unlock.
Oof. Holmes simply isn’t very good.
He added a curveball before 2020 then got hurt. This isn’t a bad move with that in mind and taking his Spring into account.
He has been good just not healthy. He stays heathy, he could be a stud in the pen or a starter.
Wrong ! He has very good stuff!
He has good stuff and looked good this spring. Pirates have a nice pen.
The Bullpen is probably the strongest area on the team. Everything is below average or horrible. Rotation is the weakest link and then the lineup. Too much is already expected from Hayes and I expect him to come back to his average he had in the minors. But he does have a great glove :).
Horrible ? They are pros. Plus they make lots of money. Strong word.