The New York Mets signed Clay Holmes with the aim of turning the All-Star reliever into a starter. And they aren’t wasting any time.

Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said Holmes will be on the mound when New York opens its Grapefruit League schedule against the Houston Astros at 12:10 p.m. CST Saturday at Clover Park in Port St. Lucie, Florida.

The Mets plan to let Holmes throw 40 to 45 pitches and hope to get three innings from the former Slocomb High School star, Mendoza said.

“I feel like I’m in a great spot right now, in a good position to really get the experience and be able to stretch out,” Holmes said Wednesday.

Holmes’ past 300 regular-season MLB appearances have come out of the bullpen. He has made four big-league starts – the most recent on Sept. 30, 2018.

Holmes signed a three-year, $38 million contract with the Mets intent on making the transition to the rotation.

“I’ve kind of tried to go into a pretty simple mentality of ‘Let’s just try to throw a one-inning shutout each time,‘” Holmes said. “I’ll get to throw before the game and not be so rushed getting warmed up, but I think my mentality is going to try to stay the same when I’m out there. It’s just about executing pitches, which I’ve been trying to do for the past few years.”

In the 2023 season, Holmes posted a 3-5 record, 3.14 earned-run average and 30 saves for the New York Yankees. A strong first half earned Holmes his second selection for the American League team for the MLB All-Star Game. But as he collected a league-worst 13 blown saves, he was replaced as the Yankees’ closer.

Holmes continued to pitch in high-leverage situations, though, just not at the end of games. In the postseason, Holmes pitched in 13 games with a 3-1 record and 2.25 ERA.

In his final two seasons at Slocomb, Holmes struck out 210 in 144.3 innings. He had planned to play at Auburn, but after drafting Holmes in the ninth round in 2011, the Pittsburgh Pirates were determined to sign him. Pittsburgh needed a $1.2 million signing bonus to keep Holmes from going to Auburn. Before Pittsburgh’s deal with Holmes, the biggest signing bonus for a ninth-round pick had been $750,000.

Holmes reached the Major Leagues in 2018. When the Pirates traded Holmes to the Yankees in exchange for two minor-leaguers during the 2021 season, the 6-foot-5 right-hander had a 5-7 record with a 5.57 earned-run average and no saves in 91 MLB appearances, including four starts.

With the Yankees, Holmes mastered a sinker that made him one of the most reliable groundball pitchers in the big leagues. In 220 regular-season games with the Yankees, Holmes posted a 19-15 record with a 2.69 ERA and 74 saves. In 217.2 innings, he struck out 238 and yielded 174 hits and 69 walks.

In 19 playoff games, Holmes has a 3-1 record with a 1.35 ERA in 20 innings.

The Mets start their regular-season schedule against the Astros on March 27.

New York posted an 89-73 record in 2024. The Mets won playoff series against the Milwaukee Brewers and Philadelphia Phillies before falling in six games to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League Championship Series.

“Obviously, the run that the guys went on last year to the NLCS, I think it’s made the players hungry,” Holmes said. “And when you have that atmosphere and the players want to get better and they’re surrounding the players with all we need to get better, it’s an exciting time. I think big things are ahead in 2025 for the Mets.”

Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X at @AMarkG1.