Mets Say Goodbye To Two Pitchers Who Thrived In Their Pinstripes

 

Luke Weaver with the leg kick after he struck out Griffin Conine in the seventh inning on Sunday. Photo by Jason Schott.

The Major League Baseball trade deadline was Monday evening, and the Mets made a lot of moves, which was expected, but there was a poignancy to two of them that came out within an hour of each other.

The first move that was announced was that relief pitcher Luke Weaver was being sent to the Pittsburgh Pirates for infield prospect Sammy Stafura.

Then, starter Clay Holmes, along with outfielder Tyrone Taylor, was sent to the Chicago Cubs for Jefferson Rojas, an infielder who was ranked as the No. 2 prospect in their system.

Weaver and Holmes were two pitchers who Mets President of Baseball Operations brought in from The Bronx, as each looked to rebound from disappointing ends to their Yankees tenures.

The 10-year veteran Weaver was a revelation as the Yankees closer during the 2024 playoffs when he racked up four saves and surrendered just three earned runs in 14 1/3 innings, while notching 16 strikeouts.

Unfortunately for Weaver, he took a step back last season when he served primarily as the set-up man, as he had a record of 4-4, and saw his earned run average (ERA) jump to 3.62, from 2.89. Overall, his stats were solid, as he threw 64 2/3 innings, and struck out 72, while allowing 26 earned runs on 46 hits and 20 walks.

The Mets took a shot on Weaver, and he delivered one of the few bright spots in a tough season.

Weaver made 42 appearances for the Mets, with a record of 2-1 and a  1.84 ERA, threw 44 innings, with 45 strikeouts, and allowed just nine earned runs (10 overall) on 25 hits and 11 walks.

Most notably, he lowered his WHIP (walks and hits per innings pitched) to 0.818, a career-low. This surpassed his prior best of 0.929 two years ago, and taking it down considerably from the 1.021 WHIP he had last year.

Weaver's last appearance as a Met came on Sunday against Miami when he retired the Marlins in order, and notched a strikeout of Griffin Conine.

Luke Weaver firing one in against Griffin Conine on Sunday. Photo by Jason Schott.

Holmes came to the Mets with far different expectations, as the Mets converted him to a starting pitching when they acquired him ahead of the 2025 season.

This was ambitious to say the least, as he only made four starts as a rookie in 2018 with the Pittsburgh Pirates before he joined the Yankees in 2022 and was a pretty successful closer, as he notches up 20 saves in the final two months he was in The Bronx that season, then 24 the following year.

While Holmes notched 30 saves in 2024, that was far outweighed by the 13 blown saves he had that led Weaver to take over the closer's job that August.

The one thing going for the Mets was that one could see Holmes' stuff was better fit for a starter, that for whatever reason his repertoire just wasn't working as a closer anymore. 

Holmes was the Opening Day starter for the Mets in 2025, and that was a good omen for the type of season he would have, as he went 12-8 with a 3.53 ERA in 31 starts. 

One concern was if Holmes would be able to take on the workload of a starter, and he did, throwing 165 2/3 innings, while notching 129 strikeouts, and allowing 65 earned runs on 150 hits and 66 walks. Ironically, his WHIP of 1.304 mirrored that of the .24 season, when he was 1.302, but of course, those runners are spread out more as a starter.

This season, Holmes' was even better, as he had a 2.39 ERA in the nine starts he made before he suffered a broken leg in a game against the Yankees on May 15.

With a record of 4-4 that was not indicative of how well he pitched, Holmes threw 52 2/3 innings, had 45 strikeouts, and allowed just 14 earned runs on 40 hits and 18 walks, lowering his WHIP to 1.101.