It was apparent pretty much all offseason long that the Atlanta Braves were unsure what they were going to get out of Grant Holmes in 2026. Holmes was one of the better stories to come out of last season, but an elbow injury and his decision to rehab it instead of having surgery created a lot of uncertainty around him. While there were calls to put him in the bullpen initially, the Braves opted to keep Holmes in the rotation to start the 2026 season. That needs to change.
If Holmes' relatively short start against the White Sox on Tuesday was a one-off situation, that would be one thing. However, Holmes has failed to complete five innings in three of his last six starts, and one of the other three went exactly five innings. That does not exactly scream "rotation material", especially when you factor in his elbow issues dating back to late last year.
Now, with rotation reinforcements on the way very soon, it may be time to move Holmes to the bullpen, where he could be a real weapon.
Grant Holmes' future should be in the Braves' bullpen, and that may be their next step
This should in no way take away what Holmes accomplished last year or even in the starts where he has been good this year. However, the fact remains that Holmes is struggling to go deep at all into games. When going through the lineup for the second time in his appearances, opposing batters have a 1.055 OPS against him across 115 plate appearances. With the Braves' bullpen depth already being a bit of a concern, that is not sustainable.
It is also true that the composition of the Braves' pitching staff is set to change a good bit. Not only did the Braves just call up James Karinchak to bolster their bullpen and bring JR Ritchie back up, but Hurston Waldrep should be returning very soon as well. With Reynaldo Lopez being unreliable, adding Holmes to the bullpen as a length option could be the best of all worlds for everyone.
Of course, that requires Atlanta to actually follow through and make the move they need to make with Holmes. That could be dicey, as Holmes may not want to make the switch. However, given that the alternative is that the Braves' rotation is strictly worse, make future roster moves needlessly more difficult to make, and would put more strain on their relievers, so the Braves may not have any other choice.
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