The New York Mets don't think right-handed starter Clay Holmes will get enough reps as a reliever for Team USA in the WBC tournament.
Despite a brilliant showing in one World Baseball Classic outing for Team USA, the New York Mets are pulling one of its starting pitchers out of the tournament.
Mets right-hander Clay Holmes, who pitched three shutout innings allowing just one hit and striking out six batters in Team USA’s 9-1 victory over Great Britain on Saturday, is headed back to spring training camp and will no longer be on the WBC roster.
“Clay Holmes will return to the Mets from the World Baseball Classic and pitch in a Grapefruit League game tomorrow,” Mets beat writer Anthony DiComo wrote on X Thursday. “The Mets wanted him back, because Team USA could not guarantee him the workload he needs to build up for the season.”
Holmes isn’t the only starter-turned-reliever that is leaving Team USA’s roster ahead of the quarterfinals round. Chicago Cubs left-hander Matthew Boyd, who was just announced to be Chicago’s Opening Day starter, is also headed back to his respective camp to ramp up his workload as well.
While these moves may come as a shock to some fans who want to see the best of the best represent their country, it makes sense from a Major League Baseball team’s perspective.
Several pitchers in Team USA’s bullpen are starters, not relievers. It’s easy for relievers to pitch inconsistently or one-to-three innings here and there because they’re used to that type of workload.
Starting pitchers on the other hand are used to a much more fixed schedule and require a vastly different workload leading up to the long 162-game MLB regular season and into the playoffs later down the line.
Three innings around this time of year for starters is certainly normal, but with the kind of roster manager Mark DeRosa has, he can’t promise or guarantee a certain workload throughout the tournament.
Fans might be upset with that and there is certainly a lot of media scrutiny surrounding DeRosa and how he managed during the pool play round, but he has to do what he thinks is right for the team and try to juggle what MLB teams are demanding regarding their players.
The Mets organization must be happy with how Holmes pitched in his lone outing, but the team also must ensure that Holmes is ready to tackle a taxing season in their eyes.
It’s not yet clear how many innings or pitches the Mets will allow Holmes to throw in his Grapefruit League game on Friday, but considering he only used 38 pitches to get through three innings, it’s likely the Mets want him to potentially double that number with Opening Day just two weeks away.
The other Mets starter on the roster is Nolan McLean, but it seems like he will stay with Team USA as he is being used in the starting rotation.