​Clay Holmes took the mound in the batter’s box Friday afternoon for the first time since Spencer Jones’s line-drive injury in May that left him sidelined. The hitter facing him was Marcus Semien, who was also sidelined with an injury. Semien did not swing at any pitch. But after two innings of workouts with a break in between, Holmes finally appeared again on the Citi Field mound, signaling progress toward a return from the injured list. It remains unclear as of Friday whether he will still be a Met when he comes back.
Holmes told The Athletic this week that he is open to an extension, and a person familiar with the Mets’ front office told SNY that the team is also receptive to keeping him beyond his current deal. Neither Holmes’s agent nor Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns immediately responded to inquiries about whether any conversations have occurred about an extension. If a deal is going to happen, it would be wise to move quickly.
Even though Holmes is not yet nearing game action—he said Friday he will likely face actual swinging batters in his next outing, possibly in Port St. Lucie because the major league staff will be off during the All-Star Break—he remains one of the Mets’ most attractive trade-deadline assets. With an expiring contract, a strong early-season performance, and a fresh arm from his injury, Holmes would be a compelling top-tier starter for any contending team. He could fetch the Mets a worthwhile return, even as a rental who might not be fully stretched out by the deadline itself. The Blue Jays traded a top pitching prospect to the Guardians for Shane Bieber last year, even though Bieber wouldn’t be healthy until late August. Elite starting pitching is coveted in all its forms.
Holmes appears to have more time to devote to deal-making now than at any other point, while he is still working his way back from injury and remains largely removed from the daily grind of the regular season. Yet Holmes says his mind doesn’t have much room for wandering—though, as always, players are rarely eager to admit that contract chatter or trade-deadline speculation distracts them.
“ Rehab stuff grabs a lot of my attention, getting healthy and checking those boxes. I want to be healthy. I want to help this team win as many games as possible,” Holmes said Friday. “How long that is, I’m not totally sure. Hopefully things will work out. But a lot of that is out of my control.”
Holmes and the Mets appear to be building a solid long-term partnership. It was the Mets who converted him from a reliever into a starter, setting him up for bigger contracts down the road as his career progressed. He has become a dependable, well-regarded presence in the clubhouse, especially on a pitching staff featuring younger arms like Nolan McLean and Chr, who are part of the next wave. The potential for a favorable extension or a valuable trade asset is evident, underscoring Holmes’s dual appeal as a cornerstone for the Mets’ present and a prize for contenders as the summer deadline approaches.