Buccos Cove

Yesterday, the Pittsburgh Pirates made a surprise move when they sent reliever Clay Holmes to the New York Yankees. They got two players in return who look to add to their prospect depth while trying to contribute to their new organization. When you look at the names that were on the trading block for the Pittsburgh Pirates this season there were some names that have been going around. Among them were Adam Frazier, Tyler Anderson, and even Richard Rodriguez. However, one name that hasn't really been discussed at least in the public eye is reliever Clay Holmes. Holmes was released by the Pirates in the off-season but was re-signed on a Minor League deal. It was Holmes's last chance with the Pirates, and he came through making the Opening Day roster. He was putting together a solid season, appearing in 44 games going 3-2 with a 4.93 ERA over 42 innings of work while walking 25 and striking out 44. However, as General Manager, Ben Cherington proved today that even some

During the Pittsburgh Pirates' current success, the bullpen has been key to getting wins. They have been dominant all season, and have picked up the starters and kept their team in ball games. No matter how bad or good the Pittsburgh Pirates record had been over the years, the one constant has been that they have had a good bullpen. From the days of Kent Tekulve to Matt Capps and John Grabow, to Mark Melancon and Joel Hanrahan, the Pirates have always been good in relief work. However, this season, the bullpen is taking things to a new level and is by far the biggest positive to this team. They showed off again yesterday afternoon, throwing the final 7.0 innings of work while allowing just one earned run. The Pirates would reward them with a come from behind, extra-inning win when they beat the Miami Marlins 8-7 in 12 innings to improve to 23-34 on the season. On the year, the Pirates bullpen ranks 11th in Major League Baseball with a 3.76 ERA over 222.1 innings of work

Following the 2020 season, Clay Holmes was released by the Pittsburgh Pirates and looked all but don't with his pro baseball career. However, he was resigned a month later and is thriving with his last chance on a Major League roster. When Clay Holmes was drafted in the 9th round of the 2011 MLB Draft, he came with a lot of promise behind him. He, along with Gerrit Cole and Jameson Taillon, were supposed to be the next young core of pitchers to lead the starting rotation. While Cole and Taillon each had successful runs for the Pirates, Holmes's career went slightly different as injury and ineffectiveness plagued his development. He made his MLB debut in 2018, and when he is healthy, he has never had an ERA under the 5.58 mark. 2020 was supposed to be the year where he turned things around, but a broken foot before the pandemic and a forearm strain after it limited him to one game. The Pirates ended up releasing Holmes following the season, and it looked like the end

As it sits right now, the Pittsburgh Pirates have yet to name a starter for the opener of a three-game series with the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday. Today, we look at the Pirates options and who gets the call for that series opener at PNC Park. The injury bug has not been too kind to the Pittsburgh Pirates both on the offensive and pitching side of the ball. In total, the Pirates have 10 different players on either the 10-day or 60-day IL, and it is beginning to expose some of the inexperience on this team. As a result, the Pirates have dropped to 18-28 and just came off a series where they were outscored 37-8 by the Atlanta Braves. However, one injury that the Pirates have yet to address is the one that saw Trevor Cahill exit after just two innings in his last start. He has been placed on the 10-day Injured List and the subsequent move was that Kyle Crick was activated from his 10-day IL stint. The move still leaves Pittsburgh with only four starters and a hole in the rotation

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 chan

The Pittsburgh Pirates kicked off their 2021 season with a win yesterday beating the Chicago Cubs 5-3 at Wrigley Field. The win was in large part thanks to the effort of the bullpen, that combined to throw six innings of one-run, one hit, ball to secure the victory. Despite expectations, the Pittsburgh Pirates got the 2021 season started off on the right foot when they defeated the Chicago Cubs 5-3 on Opening Day. It was a great win for the team, and there is always a positive taste in your mouth when you start the season off 1-0 as opposed to 0-1. However, that win would not have been possible if it weren't for the complete dominance of the Pirates bullpen. Starting pitcher Chad Kuhl didn't have a full spring because of the birth of his son, and you knew he wasn't going deep into the game. However, when he left after just three innings, there was some concern on how the bullpen was going to handle six innings of holding a lead. However, they showed just how goo

After being released at the end of the 2020 season, Clay Holmes came back to the Pirates on a Minor League deal. He is now fighting to get back to the Pirates bullpen after a career that has been full of injuries and setbacks. When he was drafted in the ninth round of the 2011 MLB draft, there were a lot of expectations placed on the high school arm. He was having success in the lower levels of the Minor Leagues, but injuries early in his career ended up stopping his progress. Once he recovered, he once again emerged as a top prospect, and ended up making his Pirates debut in 2018, but didn't bring with him the results that were expected. He has since appeared in parts of three Minor League seasons with the Pirates and went 2-5 with a 5.91 ERA over 47 Big League games. In the end, Holmes ended up walking in free agency following the 2020 season, and it looked like their partnership was over. However, five days after his departure, Holmes was back with the Pirates when h

During Wednesday's Non-tender deadline the Pittsburgh Pirates non-tendered pitcher Clay Holmes. He has since resigned a Minor League deal and is back in the bullpen mix for 2021. The non-tender trade deadline was pretty much a non-event for the Pittsburgh Pirates. They tendered contracts to three of their arbitration-eligible players and non-tendered one while the others headed to arbitration. The only player the Pirates let go was relief pitcher Clay Holmes, who pitched in one game before suffering a right forearm strain that forced him to miss the rest of the season. Holmes has spent parts of the last two seasons with the Pirates and has yet to live up to his full potential. With the bullpen in dire need of help, it looked like the Pirates were moving on from the 2011 ninth-round draft pick. However, the Pirates brought back Clay Holmes yesterday by signing him to a Minor League deal. He also received an invite to Spring Training giving him a chance to compete for a s

As we await the start of the 2020 MLB season due to Corona Virus concerns, we will take a look at every player on the Pirates roster and outline what they will bring to the table and projections for the 2020 season. I hope this brings some positive reading to the current situation and helps us all as we wait for baseball. At one time, Clay Holmes was a highly touted prospect that was going to be a part of a young dominant Pittsburgh Pirates starting rotation. He was ranked #10 in the Pirates system entering the 2012 season and was set to join the likes of Gerrit Cole, Jameson Taillon, and Tyler Glasnow as the next generation of young Pirates starting pitching. However, things have not turned out as Holmes planned as injuries derailed his starting pitching career and turned him into a full-time reliever. He made his major League debut in 2018 and quickly went down hill as a starter going 1-2 with a 7.80 ERA in four starts. Moving ahead to 2019, Holmes was fighting for a spot

The Pittsburgh Pirates opened their 2020 spring training schedule when they took on Minnesota on Saturday falling 2-1. Mitch Keller led the way on the mound while the offense struggles to get going. Baseball is officially back as all 32 major League teams have taken the field to open the 2020 Grapefruit and Cactus League Schedules. With the start of a new season comes intrigue and excitement as fans and players alike get ready for the next eight months of action. For the Pirates they got a strong showing on the mound from their future ace as they took on the Minnesota Twins. They fell 2-1 to the defending AL Central Champions, but got a strong showing from Mitch Keller in his Grapefruit League debut. Keller started the game and threw two scoreless innings allowing just two hits and facing one over the minimum. Both hits he allowed came with one out and he was able to work out of the jam each time. Keller didn't walk anyone and only got into one one ball count all aft