The Mets officially placed starter Clay Holmes on the 15-day IL after suffering a fractured fibula in last night’s game against the Yankees. To take his place on the roster, the Mets called up right-handed reliever Joey Gerber from Triple-A to take his spot on the roster.
Holmes suffered the fractured fibula in the fourth inning after taking a comebacker off the bat of Spencer Jones. The ball was hit 111.1 mph off the bat and led to a visit from Carlos Mendoza and the trainer. Holmes was able to stay
in the game for the fifth inning, which seems improbable now given the diagnosis. Mendoza didn’t mince words after the game, saying that the team’s de facto ace and ERA leader “be down for a long time”.
The team has not yet given a timeline for Holmes’ return to action, though it seems safe to say it would come after the All-Star Break. The team won’t need a replacement starter until Wednesday’s game against the Nationals. Until then, they will roll with Huascar Brazobán (as an opener) and David Peterson as the bulk arm today, Freddy Peralta in tomorrow’s series finale, Christian Scott on Monday, and Nolan McLean on Tuesday.
The options to replace Holmes in the rotation include moving Tobias Myers or Sean Manaea from the bullpen to the rotation, or exploring some of the young arms in Triple-A, including Jack Wenninger, Zach Thornton, and Jonah Tong. For now, they will go with Gerber, who will likely stick around until Tuesday. Gerber, who was acquired in a trade with the Rays over the offseason, has made one appearance for New York this season. In that relief appearance, he tossed two scoreless innings, recording five of his six outs via the strikeout. He walked one and allowed two hits.
