SHOULD THE CUBS KEEP CLAY HOLMES LONG-TERM?!
Should the Chicago Cubs keep Clay Holmes long-term? Since arriving from the New York Mets at the 2026 MLB Trade Deadline, Holmes has quickly emerged as one of the Cubs' most reliable starting pitchers, posting a 2.09 ERA and 1.07 WHIP over 81.2 innings this season. With Holmes dominating in the Cubs rotation and showing why Chicago made the aggressive move to acquire him, the big question is whether the Cubs should keep him beyond 2026 and exercise his 2027 player option.
Video Transcript
And let's take a look at the, the pitching matchup tonight.
I mean, it's a little lopsided, ladies and gentlemen.
Yeah.
Kyle Harrison, three and two thirds, 10 hits, nine earned runs, three K's, five home runs.
Meanwhile, for Clay Holmes, 100 pitches, six shutout innings, five hits, eight K's, zero home runs, only walked two guys, six ground ball outs.
And my favorite part about that too was, you know me and Roman, we were going back and forth, and I think both of us were in agreement that around 86 pitches- Yeah you know, they were up by a ton of runs.
Let's get him out of the game.
But no, Clay Holmes went right back out and got a really easy inning and moved the chains right along and got them through that sixth inning.
And on a multiple fronts, one is, man, if you have a guy that has that ground ball rate against the Milwaukee Brewers, who continue to lead Major League Baseball in ground ball rate, if you can get that matchup and you start to say to yourself, "Man, is Clay Holmes the kryptonite or the X factor against the Milwaukee Brewers?"
You're starting to feel really, really good about that if you were to face them again in October.
And yeah, you have to play them six more times.
You're gonna probably have to Clay Holmes will probably have to pitch again when they see them, whatever it is, in a week and a half after they play the Marlins.
In terms of the re-signing, it, it, it makes a lot of sense.
He's 35 years old.
Yeah.
I get it.
Maybe the age is the only thing, but he only became a full-time starter last year.
By and large, throughout his career, he's been incredibly healthy, out of the bullpen, granted, incredibly durable, but has a lot of tread on the tire still in terms of maybe bullets that have come out of his arm.
And I just think this is a guy that maybe won't break the bank.
You're not gonna probably see a five or six-year deal from Clay Holmes.
So that automatically puts the Cubs into it, right?
That three, four-year deal, and he's pitching himself into a very robust market, a market that I think the Cubs should be incredibly interested in heading into this off-season.
They have plenty of lefties.
Yeah.
He's a righty on top of everything.
Feeling pretty good about that.
He's, he's a righty.
Clay Holmes, six shutout tonight with eight strikeouts.
His last 25 innings, one measly earned run.
As a Cub, he's had five starts, five earned runs, and an ERA of 1.55.
And I think the first one was a stinker.
Good pickup.
Yeah.
The first one was like- Yeah kinda mid.
Yeah.
The rest have been phenomenal.
But that was his first game since May.
Right.
That's what I'm saying.
Because of the shin, so it's like- That's what I'm saying.
Like, that was like almost like a, a You give him a mulligan on that one, right?
The next- Yes four have been phenomenal.
Not just great, but phenomenal
