How close are the new faces in the NY Mets rotation to last year's models?

The Mets hope to replace reliable innings-eater Jose Quintana by transforming dominant reliever Clay Holmes into a competent starter

Last season, the Mets enjoyed the reliable presence of veteran lefty Jose Quintana anchoring the back end of their rotation. While far removed from his peak years with the Chicago White Sox, Quintana had a long track record and racked up innings while posting above-average results over his 12-year career.

The Mets will now look to replace his 170 innings and 3.75 ERA with Clay Holmes as the extraordinary closer looks to transform into a successful starting pitcher with the Amazins'.

For Holmes, this will be no easy feat. His last endeavor as a starter came in 2018, his rookie season with the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Pirates quickly determined after just four awful starts that Holmes' future was in the pen.

It took leaving Pittsburgh for the other New York team for Holmes to really flourish in that role, During his time in the Bronx, Holmes made two All-Star appearances and mostly thrived despite losing his closer job last year down the stretch.

Holmes's sinker-slider combination played well out of the bullpen, as the big righty was able to post astronomical ground ball rates (66.3% for his career) and solid strikeout numbers (career 9.60 K/9). It's a good foundation, but he'll need to add a third pitch at minimum to succeed in the rotation.

Another issue Holmes must overcome is his propensity to run out of gas as the season progresses. For his career, his first-half ERA is a very solid 3.04. In the second half, it balloons to 4.64. That's a scary proposition for a guy who will be taking on a much larger workload from game to game and over the course of the season.

There's always a chance that Hefner and the lab can unlock him as a starter and that he could take to the new role and its nuances. However, it's tough to say that on paper he's an upgrade over a guy who's been posting sub-4 ERAs and eating innings out of the rotation for over a decade.

Verdict: While intriguing, this is a clear downgrade.