In Focus - Clay Holmes

 

Thomas Nestico                 @TJStats

Clay Holmes made his Mets debut today!

Holmes couldn't translate his Spring success into opening day as he struggled to locate his fastballs. He allowed 4 BB and a ton of hard contact

The sweeper looked fantastic, but he hardly tossed his kick changeup

 

Pitch Profiler                      @pitchprofiler

Happy Birthday, Clay Holmes!

In his first Opening Day start, Holmes showed he’s got the stuff to be a consistently strong starter—despite some command issues. Honestly, it’s fair to chalk those up to nerves today!

Mack  -

What can I say?

I'm reminded of a conversation I had once with an unnamed Mets minor league pitcher.

I had asked him how he knew if his "stuff" was going to work on a given outing.

He told me it all became real after warming up in the pen. 

Said the average was:

1/3rd of arsenal was spot on.

1/3rd was working more than not

1/3rd was for shit

Said the "working more than not" became his secondary pitches for that outing  and the "for shit" pitches still had to be interjected to hopefully work them out during the game.

Let's say it was the curve. And you are the bat. You will know early that you aren't going to see this in the early innings.  You also will see it isn't working that day, but, if mixed properly, you may miss your chance to hit it.

The goal is not to throw a shit pitch. The goal is to work out the kinks and use it effectively later in the game.

You can't win in this game with only one pitch. Well, you could if your name is Mario Riviera. 

Yesterday, Holmes' change-up was the for shit pitch and he ditched it early. It's a go-to pitch and he needs it to be a successful starter.

For now, this is one start.in Game 1 of 162. Sort of early to panic.