Red Sox Free Agent Wish List: Clay Holmes Should Be Pitching Target No. 1

The Boston Red Sox don’t necessarily need to add big names to their rotation this offseason, but that doesn’t mean that there isn't room for upgrades. The group already has an incredibly strong point as currently constructed with Garrett Crochet, Ranger Suarez, Payton Tolle, Jake Bennett, Brayan Bello, Tanner Houck, and even Kutter Crawford all looking to make an impact next season, but there is one name on the free-agent market that makes a lot of sense to add to this starting rotation that could fill a Sonny Gray-shaped hole in a way that Bello and company could not.

Yes, Clay Holmes is the perfect starter that the Red Sox need to target this offseason.

Holmes didn’t have the healthiest year in 2026, and his numbers aren’t the most spectacular, but under the hood there is a lot to like. While pitching for both the Mets and Cubs last season, the right-hander tossed 101.1 innings over 18 games started, working a 6-8 record with 78 strikeouts, 42 walks, a 3.29 ERA, 18.6 K%, 10 BB%, and a 1.8 fWAR. What’s most astonishing though, and the thing the Red Sox likely love more than anything else about Holmes, is that his groundball rate came in at an amazing 60.7%.

President of baseball operations Craig Breslow has said from the day he was hired that the Red Sox are built on pitching and defense. Holmes' propensity for keeping the ball on the ground and in the yard would make him a perfect fit for that philosophy.

His pitch mix plays into the Red Sox’s defensive strength. He’s a sinker-baller that averages 93.1 MPH on his primary pitch. He also mixes in a sweeper, change up, cutter, curveball, and a four-seam fastball that comes in just a tick lower than his sinker. He’s not going to blow you away by any means, but he is able to induce weak contact that allows the defense behind him to play up to their potential.

To best appreciate what Holmes can bring to the Red Sox, we need to look at contact metrics. For his career, he’s averaged a 0.4° launch angle and his career average exit velocity sits at 89.1 MPH. He only allows a 4.9% barrel rate and the type of contact against him is heavily weighted at 48.4% topped. That's a pitcher who won't be intimidated by the convoluted outfield dimensions of Fenway Park, and it doesn’t hurt that he would also add a right-handed slant to a lefty-heavy rotation.

Clay Holmes isn’t the flashiest addition the Red Sox could add this offseason, but his profile proves that he would be incredibly useful in Boston as both a veteran leader and a pitcher who offers something besides a “Three-Headed Monster of Hard” pitch mix that both Crochet and Tolle are fond of using. It remains to be seen if the market for Holmes will price out the Red Sox, who, to reiterate, do not have to add starting rotation help for 2027. If he remains relatively affordable, this is a partnership that would pay tremendous dividends for both sides.

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