It's been a rough July for the Philadelphia Phillies, especially after the All-Star break. This team desperately needs help at the MLB trade deadline, and it's not just at one position either.
However, one of the more pressing issues for this team is the No. 5 starter spot in the rotation. It's a glaring issue, as they've not won a single game from that spot recently. So, it should come as little surprise that the Phillies are pursuing rotation help.
The Athletics' Will Sammon and Ken Rosenthal report that the Phillies are among seven teams that showed up to watch New York Mets 2.39 ERA starter Clay Holmes during his rehab outing recently.
"Scouts from the New York Yankees, Chicago White Sox, Philadelphia Phillies, Tampa Bay Rays, Rangers, Los Angeles Dodgers, Arizona Diamondbacks were among those who flocked to Dunedin, Fla., to evaluate Holmes, out since mid-May after a fibula fracture," Sammon and Rosenthal report.
The Phillies, being one of the clubs to show up with scouts to see Holmes pitch during his rehab outing shows just how much interest they have.
Holmes, in that rehab outing, threw four scoreless innings, and had two MLB executives who saw his recent rehab outing note that the Mets right-hander "looked big-league ready," according to Sammon and Rosenthal.
This season, before his fractured fibula injury, which sent him to the two-month-plus injured list stint, Holmes had a 2.39 ERA with a 4-4 record and 2.0 bWAR in nine starts.
He's a 33-year-old pitcher who is a free agent after the 2026 MLB season, unless he decides to accept his 2027 player option after his two-year, $26 million deal.
The Phillies are showing interest in Holmes, and it would make sense for the team to take a flier on him this summer. Of course, the Mets will likely ask for a lot amid such heated interest, so the Phillies might lose out on this bidding war.
But, if nothing else, this activity at Holmes rehab outing shows that the Phillies are serious about acquiring rotation help this summer amid the team's dire need for a decent No. 5 starter.
