New Year, new Clay Holmes. The Mets’ newest pitching acquisition is already undergoing a transformation of sorts with his new team. Tuesday afternoon on a Zoom call, the right-hander was sporting a beard, something forbidden while playing for the Yankees, and a t-shirt from the brand Meanwhile Back in Queens, a local company that sells clothing, accessories and other items to celebrate the borough of Queens. But the real transformation for the Alabama native will begin next season when he’ll start in the rotation for the first time since he was in the minor leagues. Holmes signed a three-year, $38 million contract with the Mets as a starter, not a reliever. “It’s something that I’ve always kind of had in the back of my mind, I would say, throughout my career,” Holmes said in his introductory call. “There was a little bit of interest way back when, like in 2020, to go overseas as a starter and that somewhat excited me. So I think it’s something that’s always been there for me.” The 31-year-old Holmes was drafted in the first round as a starter out of high school and spent the first six seasons of his professional career as a starter in the Pittsburgh Pirates system. He made four starts as a rookie in 2018 before the Bucs moved him to the bullpen in a move that changed the trajectory of his career. In the Bronx, he abandoned his curveball and four-seam fastball and went heavy on the ground-ball pitches. His 96 MPH sinker and his slider became his bread-and-butter pitches, and he later added a sweeper. In 2022, he became the closer, a job he lost in 2024 when volatility on the mound led to a demotion. Still, his underlying numbers were good enough to garner plenty of attention when he became a free agent in November. Holmes told his agent, BB Abbott, that he was interested in starting again. While the Yankees, Blue Jays and other teams were clear about seeing him only as a reliever, enough teams showed interest in his ability to make the conversion that he decided to pursue a starting spot somewhere. “At the end of the day, this opportunity is here and I didn’t want to look back at the end of my career and say, ‘What could have come from that?'” Holmes said. “I think it’s something that deep down I had a passion for and it excited me.” In order to keep his feel for other pitches, Holmes still threw his changeup and four-seamer in bullpen sessions with the Yankees last year. Adding those back into his pitch mix would give him five to work with. The Mets have alluded to the possibility of having him add another pitch as well. “I do think I have the depth of the arsenal to be a little more unpredictable than just, you know, relying on my sinker all of the time,” Holmes said. “I think starting gives me the best opportunity to do that and expose it.” Holmes is working out with starters this winter to get an idea of their workload and their preparation. One of those starters is newly-acquired Red Sox right-hander Garrett Crochet, who also made the jump from the bullpen to the rotation last season. He plans to get to Port St. Lucie early to work out with Mets pitching coaches Jeremy Hefner and Desi Druschel, the latter of which he worked with in the Bronx. Starting pitching is at a premium this winter and it’s not going to get any easier or cheaper to acquire it in the next few years. If the transition can work for pitchers like Crochet, Michael King and former Mets reliever Seth Lugo, then it’s worth trying with someone like Holmes, who has already done it in the past. “I think in this day and age with relievers who continue to refine what they do, and frankly, with the pitch design resources that all these guys have in front of them, I think there are a number of relievers that have considered converting,” Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns said last week at the winter meetings. “Especially those who had started previously in their careers.” The Mets believe he’ll benefit from a number of things in Queens, including Druschel and shortstop Francisco Lindor. The Yankees don’t prioritize defense the same way the Mets do. With Holmes converting more than 60% of his outs on the ground, he can breathe easy with the double-play tandem of Lindor and Jeff McNeil behind him. “Francisco is special out there,” Holmes said. If it doesn’t work out, the Mets have another setup man. But Holmes is willing to bet that it does work out. “I want to throw 160 innings,” Holmes said. “I want to throw as many innings as I can.”