BRADENTON, Fla. — If ever you’ve wondered, as perhaps the Pirates front office did six years ago, what would convince a high school valedictorian to abandon a full scholarship at Auburn, a million bucks might be a good start. In Clay Holmes’ particular case, the answer was $1.2 million.
When Holmes, the Pirates’ ninth-round pick in 2011, arrived at Pirate City shortly after signing, the first player he met was Gerrit Cole, the UCLA right-hander drafted No. 1 overall that year. Holmes and Cole shared a dorm room at the complex and worked out together on the practice fields.
Their reunion came last month when Holmes walked into the clubhouse at Pirate City on the first day of his first major league spring training camp, and Cole hurried over to say hello.
“It goes back to the very, very beginning, me and him,” Holmes recalled.
Holmes, who stands 6-foot-5 and will turn 24 March 27, is closer yet with right-hander Jameson Taillon. They bonded over every pitcher’s nightmare — Tommy John surgery. Holmes had the procedure March 19, 2014. A few days later, a concerned Taillon sent Holmes a text message saying he was going to get his elbow checked out. Taillon’s surgery was exactly two weeks later.
Taillon joined Holmes in Bradenton, and they stayed in lock step throughout the rehab process.
“We were down here the whole time together, from first being able to take our arm out of the cast and move it to the first time in games,” Holmes said. “It’s not something anyone wishes to go through, but, if you go through it — and go through it the right way — you will be better for it.”
“Spent a lot of time together,” added Taillon. “The good days and the bad days.”
At the lowest low of their pro careers — over a year spent away from baseball games — they had a companion with the same impatience, the same pain, the same scar on his right arm. They lived together. They cooked dinner. They played catch almost every day for a year and a half.
When their elbows hurt, they biked and kayaked, but more often hit the beach. There’s this secret spot, Taillon said, somewhere near Anna Maria Island where the beach turns from seashells to sand. It’s quieter there. They’d swim no matter the weather, Holmes said, even one day when the waves were so high they knocked them both over.
The “childish stuff” helped them get away, Holmes said, and get their minds off their elbows.
Setting sights higher
Holmes was a sophomore at Slocomb (Ala.) High School when his baseball coach, Jeremy Whitaker, took the promising young pitcher to throw in front of Whitaker’s old junior-college coach, Steve Helms, at Lurleen B. Wallace Community College in nearby Andalusia, Ala.
After the bullpen session, Whitaker, eager to net Holmes’ first scholarship offer, pulled Helms aside.
“Are you going to offer him?” Whitaker asked.
“I’m not going to offer him,” Helms replied. “He’s going to get drafted.”
In retrospect, Whitaker said, he should have anticipated it, but Slocomb doesn’t produce many major league prospects. Holmes was tall and fit, already 6 feet 3 with room to grow, and he had clean mechanics despite limited training. He was serious and “sneaky smart,” Whitaker recalled.
“Well, buddy,” Whitaker told Holmes on the drive home. “We need to talk to your parents.”
Holmes remembers that day well. It was when the interest and attention started slowly building.
“Both of us started setting our sights a little higher after that,” Holmes said.
‘A little step closer’
Holmes knows it’s strange, but his only starstruck moment so far in camp was when he took the mound for his Grapefruit League debut Feb. 27 and noticed the third-base umpire was Joe West. Facing Matt Holliday, Brett Gardner and Mark Trumbo has not fazed Holmes, but West did?
“He’s the umpire you’ve seen for so long,” Holmes said, “and now he’s umpiring your game.”
In each of his first two spring outings, Holmes struck out four over two scoreless innings. Saturday, he fought his fastball command and allowed four hits and two runs in 1⅔ innings. There’s work to be done with Holmes, particularly with his command, but the indicators are good. Holmes said his low-90s (mph) two-seamer is his “bread and butter,” and he also employs a hard slider.
Holmes had a 4.22 ERA over 26 starts last season for Class AA Altoona, his first full season after the elbow surgery. The Pirates added Holmes to the 40-man roster last fall, keeping him from the Rule 5 draft. He might start the season at Altoona but should reach at Class AAA Indianapolis in short order.
A spring training invitation was an emotional boost, Holmes said, “a little step closer” to the majors.
“It gives a little light, especially after going through the rehab experience and being away for a year or two,” Holmes said. “Makes you feel like your work is being seen, and it’s paying off.”
Stephen J. Nesbitt: snesbitt@post-gazette.com and Twitter @stephenjnesbitt.
Game data
Score: Pirates 4, Twins 3.
Record: 12-4.
Starter: Trevor Williams: 3 IP 3 H 2 R 2 ER 0 BB 3 K 1 HR.
Hitter: Chris Stewart: 2 for 2. 1 2B, 3 RBI.
Of note: On his weekly radio show, general manager Neal Huntington said Pirates athletic training coordinator Bryan Housand, who currently is with South Korea in the World Baseball Classic, met with Jung Ho Kang recently and reported the infielder physically looks good. Kang on Friday was placed on the restricted list as he awaits his visa to enter the United States.
“He’s doing everything he can do to be ready the day he reports,” Huntington said, adding Kang will need a “spring training time” upon arrival, as his training has not included live pitching.
News of the day
On the whole, Williams liked his outing, and he especially liked his changeup. It helped set up his three strikeouts, and even the changeup Daniel Palka hit out to left was in a good spot.
“He went after the changeup and got it,” Williams said. “It was off the plate. I went to back up third base and went, ‘Oh my, he hit that one out.’ ”
“I felt the same way when the ball was hit,” manager Clint Hurdle said. “Fly ball to left field. And then you look up and it’s banging around in the seats.”
Williams accomplished his “micro-goal” of no walks, going to only one three-ball count, and felt his delivery was more in sync this time. Left-hander Steven Brault, another pitcher vying to open the season as the Pirates’ fifth starter, threw three scoreless innings with two hits and a walk.
Monday
Game: vs. Braves, 1:05 p.m., Champion Stadium, Lake Buena Vista, Fla. Radio: KDKA-FM 93.7.
First Published: March 13, 2017, 4:00 a.m.