【Guts Casino】Five 2025 MLB Breakout Player Candidates

The New York Yankees no doubt enjoyed having slugger Juan Soto around to help them reach the World Series a season ago. Soto didn’t come to the Bronx for free, though, with right-hander Michael King a big part of the trade package with San Diego. Mostly a reliever with the Yanks, all King did was turn into one of the best starting pitchers in the league with the Padres.

Lightning might strike again, in a sense, with Holmes moving across town as a free agent to join Soto and the Mets. Holmes never made a start with the Yankees, but he made four with the Pittsburgh Pirates as a rookie and 114 more in the minors before they turned him into a reliever. At nearly 32, he’s easily the oldest and most experienced player in this group. He posted a 2.69 ERA with 238 strikeouts in 217 2/3 innings exclusively as a reliever during four years with the Yankees, but he’s betting on himself (as are the Mets) as a starting pitcher.

Holmes has gotten enough value from the entirety of a three-pitch mix (sinker, slider, sweeper) to be effective as a reliever, but his breaking pitches have become his go-tos. Holmes has been working on adding a cutter and a changeup this spring, but it’s to be seen if he carries everything into the regular season. If he expands his arsenal, it would be a similar attack plan to what Seth Lugo used in going from an effective reliever to one of the top starters in the AL. Assuming he handles the physical stress of being a starting pitcher, Holmes has a chance to follow the recent success of King and Lugo.