Could a Clay Holmes-Sean Manaea piggyback help the Mets?

New York Mets manager Carlos Mendoza recently set his pitching rotation. All things considered, it was pretty much as expected.

The newly acquired Freddy Peralta will start Opening Day on Thursday. He’ll be followed by, in order: David Peterson, Nolan McLean, Clay Holmes, and Kodai Senga. Veteran lefty Sean Manaea, entering the second year of a $75 million contract, will start the year in the bullpen. Mendoza has already said Manaea will serve in a piggyback role.

Translation: Somebody in the Mets rotation is probably on a strict pitch count or innings cap, so Manaea should be ready to step in early if needed. The big lefty can support McLean, who might be on an innings limit for the sake of his health. Such is the case with the sinker-sweeper combo that puts more stress on the arm. Similarly, Manaea could piggyback Senga, who has a history of shoulder trouble and, for some reason, had an awful second half. He was 0-3 with a 6.56 ERA in eight second half starts after going 7-3 with a 1.39 ERA in 14 starts before the Break.

Then, there’s Clay Holmes. The former All-Star closer for the New York Yankees who crossed the East River to not only sign with the Mets in 2025, but join their starting rotation. All things considered, the big righty had a pretty okay year. He went 12-8 with a 3.53 ERA in 33 games (31 starts), pitching a career-high 165.2 innings.

The downside, of course, was the same which plagued him in the Bronx. Holmes tired out in the second half and posted a 4.65 ERA across July and August. He was basically an opener by the end of the season and also made a bullpen appearance in spring training.

Add up the pitching calculus of it all, and a Clay Holmes-Sean Manaea piggyback almost makes too much sense. Think of Holmes’ arsenal. He leads with his two-planed “demon” sinker, then factors in a sweeper and the “kick” changeup while sprinkling in occasional sliders and cutters. Sometimes even *gasp* a four-seam fastball!

Translation: He’s a groundball pitcher whose fastball/sinker velocity dipped last year though, to be fair, he probably wasn’t throwing as hard as a starter. Even so, taking a turn or two through the lineup before handing the ball off to the lefty Manaea is a solid strategy.

Manaea, similar to Holmes, is basically a two-pitch pitcher. He just doesn’t cover it by scattering in random breaking pitches. He’s leading with his fastball and countering with a sweeper. He’ll throw a changeup if he feels like it. He gets strikeouts and doesn’t issue too many walks, and doesn’t make it look pretty. The man simply knows how to get outs.

Ideal to come in for the middle innings after someone like Holmes goes through the lineup once or twice, no? Especially if the goal is to keep Holmes’ arm fresh all season long.

It’s also worth noting that while Manaea didn’t necessarily have a bad spring training, his velocity was notably down. His average fastball velocity was only 88.6 mph, three ticks below last season. Holmes, on the other hand, averaged 94 mph on his sinker and has maintained velocity on the rest of his pitches.

What’s more, this piggyback proposal also gives Manaea some extra time to ramp up his arm and see if his velocity returns. The Mets could also even flip the two, having Manaea start and then have Holmes piggyback out of the bullpen.

Nothing about this is even close to official, just pure speculation. Again, Carlos Mendoza has not commented on when Sean Manaea will pitch this week.

The Mets need a bounce-back season, and badly. They thought outside the box by making Holmes a starter. Let’s see them do the same with a Sean Manaea piggyback.