Clay Holmes is hanging in there late into his first MLB season as a starter, but there are signs he may be running out of gas.
Through the first month of the season, it appeared Holmes would maintain his strikeout rate during his switch from the bullpen to the rotation, punching out 27.5 percent of batters (10.57 batters per nine innings) over his first six outings.
He’s essentially been a contact pitcher since then.
After the calendar turned to May, Holmes has posted a 16.1 percent strikeout rate while striking out 6.16 per nine innings.
Those figures were both in the bottom 10 entering Wednesday among pitchers with at least 90 innings on the mound over that stretch.
He’s having an even harder time getting it by batters of late, striking out more than four batters in just one game since the All-Star break and just twice since mid-June.
The right-hander hasn’t exactly done himself any favors in the strikeout category by pitching deep into the game – Holmes has gotten through six innings just once in his last 13 starts.
Holmes will face one of the best teams in baseball at avoiding strikeouts on Thursday in Queens.
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The Marlins are striking out just 20.7 percent of the time, which is the sixth-lowest rate in the league.
Holmes was strong against Miami in back-to-back starts in April, striking out 16 in 10 innings, but, as mentioned, he’s a much different pitcher a few months later.
Don’t expect Holmes to fill up the box score Thursday in the first of a four-game set following a three-game sweep of the Phillies.
The play: Clay Holmes Under 4.5 strikeouts (-168, FanDuel)
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Dylan Svoboda is a versatile writer and analyst across many sports. He’s particularly knowledgeable about the big three — MLB, the NFL and the NBA.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
