Holmes Back On Track After Rough Outing Early in The Year

At the beginning of the season, Clay Holmes had a rough outing that shot his ERA up over 10.00 for a couple of weeks. However, he has been dominant over his last 11 appearances and has his ERA down to a more respectable level.

After having a dominant Spring Training with the Pittsburgh Pirates, the start of the year did not go exactly the way Clay Holmes had planned it. After three appearances, Holmes's ERA was sitting at 23.14 and he had been scored upon six times in his first three outings of the season. It wasn't that he was wild or anything, but opponents were just getting the bat on the ball and it was finding holes. His opponent batting average was at .364 and he had given up four hits and six earned runs in his first 2.1 innings of work. He took a much-needed day off on April 7th and reflected on those outings to see what he could do to improve. The Pirates brought back Holmes on a Minor League contract this past off-season, and he knew this was his last chance to prove he can pitch in the Major Leagues.

He took that message to heart and has been lights out over his last 11 appearances out of the bullpen. He has dropped his ERA to a more respectable 4.60 and has allowed just two earned runs since that season-worst five earned runs allowed back on April 6th. As a reliever, it is hard to recover from a poor start to the season, but Holmes has done just that over the last month's worth of games. Since that rough outing on April 6th against the Cincinnati Reds, Holmes has pitched to a 1.38 ERA over 13.1 innings of work and has racked up 12 strikeouts during that stretch. Today, we look at what Holmes has done differently since his rough start and how it has helped him develop into a reliable long-man for the Pirates this season.

Change In Approach

When Clay Holmes came into 2021 Spring Training as a non-roster invitee, he knew this was his last chance to impress the team that drafted him in 2011. Holmes had had a couple of shaky Spring Trainings in years prior, and with no guarantee to make the Big League roster he would have to earn his way onto the club. He did just that putting together his best Spring Training performance to date, appearing in 10 games for the Pirates and not allowing an earned run over 9.2 innings of work. He had his strikeout pitch working with eight during Spring while walking just three and having an opponent batting average of .212. He earned a roster spot on the last day of Spring Training and started the season with a bang. He appeared in a scoreless inning on Opening Day, striking out one and helping the bullpen combine to throw six shutout innings in an Opening Day win.

However, the dark day would come just five days later on April 6th, when Holmes got lit up for five runs in just a third of an inning of work. Every pitcher has an outing like this, but unfortunately for Holmes, it came right at the beginning of the season, skyrocketing his ERA to 23.14. He allowed three hits and walked two batters over just 0.1 innings of work and unfortunately for Holmes all five of those runners would end up coming around to score. It was a night to forget for Holmes and most other pitchers for the Pirates, as they fell to a dismal 1-5 to start the season. However, Holmes learned from that appearance and came back better than ever, and since then has been one of the better arms to come out of the Pirates bullpen.

Since that outing on April 6th, Holmes has pitched to a 1.38 ERA over his last 13.1 innings of work. He has allowed just nine hits during that span and has walked just three batters while striking out nine. He had another scoreless appearance in last night's loss to the San Diego Padres. He came on to pitch the eighth and gave a two-out walk to Trent Grisham and allowed a single to Manny Machado to put runners on first and third with two outs. However, he was able to strand both numbers and keep it a two-run game as the Pirates continued to try and fight back. He relied heavily on his sinker/slider combination and forced the Padres to hit the ball on the ground. He has had a good start to May and looks to continue to lower that ERA outing by outing.

Using Pitches More Effectively

When Clay Holmes came to the Major Leagues during the 2018 season, he was a five-pitch pitcher trying to use all of his pitches effectively. However, when you have that many options it can end up hurting you and that is what happened. Holmes was using each of his pitches at least five percent of the time and it led to below-average numbers. During that season, he went just 1-3 with a 6.84 ERA in 11 games and four starts with the Pirates. However, as he has matured, he has focused on his most effective pitches and used those to his advantage. Those two pitches that have been most effective for the 28-year-old are his sinker and his slider as he tries to force as many groundballs as possible.

His sinker is his most used pitch this season at 43.6% and is coming in faster than ever before at 95 mph. He has not allowed an extra-base hit on his sinker since the 2019 season and has struck out three batters on the pitch. With Holmes being a groundball pitcher, his sinker plays a big role in the groundballs that he does get and has helped that percentage jump this season. In his first 14 games of the season, he is producing ground balls at a career-best rate of 71%. Combine that with a career-low 35.6 hard-hit percentage and Holmes is generating soft groundballs that are becoming easy outs. He doesn't get a lot of strikeouts on the mound, but when he does it is because he is working in the breaking ball.

Holmes's main secondary pitch is his slider, which has the lowest opponent batting average of any of his pitches at .227. It has also helped generate eight of his 14 strikeouts this season as he uses it mostly against right-handed batters. The pitch dips down and in to right-handed hitters and causes them to swing over the top of pitches. However, when he faces a lefty, he likes to go to the curveball, that dives towards the outside corner. He has three strikeouts on the curveball this season and has allowed just one hit on the pitch. All three of his pitches have major downward movement on them, which forces them to hit the ball on the ground more often than not. Groundballs are key to Holmes's success, and he looks to continue to force groundballs throughout the season.

After an off-day on Thursday, the Pittsburgh Pirates (13-17) are back in action on Friday afternoon when they battle the Chicago Cubs (15-16) at 2:20 pm. Trevor Cahill (1-3, 7.40) gets things started for the Pirates as he looks for some consistency against Zach Davies (1-2, 8.22) for the Cubs. You can watch the game on AT&T Sportsnet, listen on 93.7 The Fan, or follow along with us on Twitter by following @Buccos_Cove.