The New York Mets are sliding down the standings. At the end of July, the Mets were at the top of the NL East, in a tight division race with the Philadelphia Phillies. Just over two weeks later, the Mets are a whole five games out of the division and are clinging to a Wild Card spot. The Mets had an opportunity to prevent this downfall. This one roster move could have potentially drastically changed their month.

That move would have been moving Clay Holmes to the bullpen and going after another starter, rather than acquiring Ryan Helsley from the St. Louis Cardinals. At the All-Star break, Holmes had a 3.29 ERA, 4.29 FIP, and 1.26 WHIP over his first 98.1 innings of the season. He only had a 19.7% K% and 9.7% walk rate, but induced a solid 1.01 HR/9. For a pitcher who hadn’t started games regularly since 2018 and in the minor leagues, you couldn’t ask for a better start to the year. But the wear and tear is beginning to take its toll, as Holmes has allowed 16 earned runs, a dozen walks, with only 20 strikeouts over his last 27.2 innings of work since the All-Star break.

Holmes has already pitched 126.1 total innings this year. He hasn’t pitched 100 since 2018. This is also the second most he has tossed in a single season. His season high is 135.1 IP, which all came at the Pittsburgh Pirates’ Double-A affiliate in 2016, nearly a decade ago. The Mets should have moved Holmes to the pen to preserve his energy down the line. But instead of prioritizing adding another rotation arm, the Mets opted to acquire Helsley for Nate Dohm, Jesus Baez, and Frank Elissalt.

Things could look much different for the Mets right now if Clay Holmes was moved to the bullpen

There’s no doubt Helsley was a lights-out closing pitcher with the Cardinals. He is a two-time All-Star with a 226 ERA+ from 2022 through 2024. He opened the 2025 season putting up a 3.00 ERA, 3.53 FIP, and 1.40 WHIP. He also had a 26.1% K% and an 8.9% walk rate. This was a down year by his lofty standards, but given his stuff and still solid peripherals, he became one of the most sought-after relievers at the deadline.

Unfortunately, Helsley’s time with the Mets hasn’t gotten off on the right foot. He has allowed five earned runs on nine hits, including a home run, with three walks and seven strikeouts over his first 5.1 innings in a Mets uniform. By the time the Mets acquired Helsley, he was an unnecessary commodity for the Mets. While Helsley was the Cardinals’ 9th-inning man, he was not dethroning Edwin Diaz for the closer role. They had also already acquired Gregory Soto and Tyler Rogers to reinforce their depth chart.

If the Mets really wanted another reliever, the better option would have been to go after a starter and move Holmes to the pen. It’s not as if there was a shortage of starting pitchers on the trade market. The Mets could have gone after any of Merrill Kelly, Dustin May, Taj Bradley, Zack Littell, or Nestor Cortes. All likely would have come at a cheaper price than Helsley, and the Mets’ pitching staff would probably be in a better place compared to where it is right now.