Camp Notes: Holmes to Start Grapefruit League Opener, Soto Likely to Hit Second

Newly acquired Clay Holmes will begin his transition from reliever to starter Saturday when he takes the mound for the Mets’ Grapefruit League opener at Clover Park in Port St. Lucie against the Astros, manager Carlos Mendoza told reporters on Wednesday.

The opener will be followed on Sunday with split-squad action: the Mets will host Miami and send a team to play the Nationals in West Palm Beach.

“See how we gonna cover 18 innings on Sunday that we got that split squad,” Mendoza said. “So you gonna see a lot of minor leaguers. So we trying to get through the first three, but Clay is going the first day here.”

Mendoza said Holmes will throw 40-45 pitches and go around three innings.

The Mets signed Holmes, 31, to a three-year, $38 million contract in December. The seven-year veteran made four starts in his rookie year with the Pirates in 2018 and has been in the bullpen since. He saved 74 games over the last three years for the Yankees.

Last season, Holmes was 3-5 with a 3.14 ERA and 1.30 WHIP. He saved 30 games, but blew 13 saves and lost his closer job in September. Mendoza is familiar with the right-hander from his time with the Yankees prior to managing the Mets.

Soto Likely to Bat Behind Lindor

In other news, Mendoza said he is likely to bat Francisco Lindor leadoff and Juan Soto second.

“The good thing is we got great options,” he told Gary Apple of SNY. “We got great players and there’s a lot of different ways that I could go, but as of right now I’m leaning Lindor-Soto.”

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