All of Atlanta’s Opening Day starting pitchers are now injured.
This morning the Atlanta Braves made official that starting pitcher Grant Holmes is going on the 15-day injured list due to right elbow inflammation. Holmes was the last remaining Opening Day starting pitcher left in Braves’ rotation.
The corresponding move was the return of reliever Daysbel Hernandez from Triple-A. The right-hander was optioned to Gwinnett on July 13.
Holmes, 29, had made 21 starts for Atlanta yielding results similar to last year’s surprising debut. His 3.99 ERA this year is in almost perfectly in alignment with his 4.23 xERA and 3.94 xFIP. He appeared in 26 games for Atlanta last year, making seven starts.
Holmes, a former first round draft pick who’d moved to the bullpen during his last several season in the minors, pitched well as a swing-man last season and won a spot in the team’s big league rotation during this year’s Spring Training.
Holmes’ 21 starts and 115 innings pitched are his most since 2017. He’d seen a dip in his strikeout number in his last three starts, only striking out a total of five batters. He also finished four innings in two of his last three starts after hitting that milestone in 15 of his 16 previous outings.
Holmes joins fellow opening day starting pitchers Chris Sale, Reynaldo Lopez, AJ Smith-Shawver and Spencer Schwellenbach on the IL. If Holmes’ elbow issue results in him landing on the 60-day IL, he will join the other four starters in that designation as well.