Chicago Cubs encouraged to extend Clay Holmes despite rough first start

The Chicago Cubs’ newest starting pitcher Clay Holmes didn’t have a great debut outing with the team.

Pitching against the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium on Saturday, the veteran right-hander allowed four earned runs in four innings pitched, with six hits and two walks. He also allowed a home run in the Cubs’ 6-3 loss.

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The flat performance was not entirely unexpected. After all, he hadn’t made a big league start since May 15 with the Mets, when he suffered a fractured right fibula on a line drive in a game against the Yankees.

“It took a lot of work to get back to this point, and it definitely felt good to be back in a big league game,” Holmes told reporters after the game. “Obviously, that’s not the full goal. You want to be back and helping this team win games. I just wasn’t quite sharp enough tonight, but it was a good step

There was just some sinkers up early and I wasn’t able to land the sweeper to get some good counts early. I started to make better pitches later. The sinker started to find the bottom of the zone and I got some balls on the ground. It’s just some small adjustments that I know I’ll be able to make and just go into work.”

Worth the price?

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Even with the subpar start, many feel that the trade to bring him over to the Cubs, along with outfielder Tyrone Taylor, was well worth sacrificing the organization’s no. 2 prospect Jefferson Rojas. Some are even going so far as to nudge the Cubs front office into extending the groundball specialist.

Holmes has a $12 million player option for 2027. Most expect him to turn it down and dive into the free agent market. However, there’s a case to be made that he could exercise the option, stay with a Cubs defense that will make him look stellar in whatever time is left after the upcoming labor dispute, and then, even approaching 34 years of age, go for the fat multi-year free agent contract.

Chicago could also sidestep all that drama and extend him now.

Extending Clay Holmes?

Steven Ryan of Northside Baseball feels that this is absolutely the right move for the Cubs to make. He even goes so far as to theorize that part of trading for him was to facilitate an easier path to making him a Cub for a longer period of time.

Per Ryan:

“After looking at the trades the Cubs made this past week, I think there’s a clear cut return to the Cubs and that’s gonna be Mr. Clay Holmes. I think the Cubs were willing to give up Jefferson Rojas, not only because he was blocked, but because they really, really wanted a two-month view with Clay Holmes. Because this guy is just the perfect pitcher for this rendition of the Chicago Cubs. He has a 60% groundball rate, which plays right into the defense’s hands.”

For now, though, the focus is on this season and what Holmes can bring to the team. But with Matthew Boyd, Shota Imanaga, David Peterson, and Kevin Gausman all free-agent eligible and Cade Horton’s future uncertain after Tommy John surgery, keeping Holmes around for some more time is not the worst idea.

The post Chicago Cubs encouraged to extend Clay Holmes despite rough first start appeared first on ChiCitySports.

Source: https://www.chicitysports.com/chicago-cubs-encouraged-to-extend-clay-holmes-despite-rough-first-start/