Grant

Holmes

The Diamondbacks were eliminated with the doubleheader split. A surprise fill-in for the injured Chris Sale, Holmes was perfect through four today, despite just throwing 1 2/3 innings on Sunday. He went on to allow a single and a walk to begin the fifth and was pulled then. It denied him a much-deserved win, but it was also much deserved that he keep his arm intact. The win means the Braves are the No. 5 seed and will play in San Diego on Tuesday. The Mets will head to Milwaukee.

The Braves had a quick hook for Holmes after he let lead-off man reach base in the bottom of the fifth. They had just taken the lead in the top half of the inning and were managing like it’s the playoffs, so Holmes didn’t have a chance to work out of that jam and qualify for the win. He was effective when in the game though fueled by his slider. It forced 11 swings-and-misses as his primary pitch. Jonah Bride did take him deep on hanging one though. He’s scheduled to make his last start of the regular season at home against the Royals next week.

It was trending this way after Holmes entered the rotation for an injured Reynaldo Lopez on Tuesday; however, it’s nice to see it now be confirmed. Holmes was limited to just four innings against the Reds as he begins to stretch back out into a starter’s workload, but he should be able to go at least five innings this weekend, which gives him a good chance to earn a win in a plus matchup. He’s firmly back on the streaming radar.

Holmes made his return to the Braves rotation and was predictably a bit inconsistent. He walked two and struck out two while posting a 22 percent whiff rate and 23 percent CSW. He was solid in his prior stint in the rotation and might be better in his next turn, if he makes it, against the Marlins this weekend.

The rotation held up well very all weekend against the Dodgers, so rather than call up a pitcher (and send down one of their only two relievers with options), the Braves can afford to pull Holmes out of the pen to make the start. He did throw 10 pitches on Saturday, so this probably won’t be a particularly lengthy outing for him.

Iglesias picked up the save, but it was a complete effort out of the Braves’ bullpen to earn the win in this win. Reynaldo López was pulled after five innings, but the trio of Grant Holmes, Joe Jiménez, and Iglesias combined to retire all 12 batters they faced while striking out three over four innings. Iglesias’ 27 saves puts him just seven away from the career-high 34 he earned in 2019 while with the Reds. He has just over a month to try and top that total.

Holmes made his best start of the season on Wednesday since joining the Braves’ starting rotation. He held the Giants to two runs over seven frames while striking out six. Tyler Fitzgerald took him deep to lead off the first inning. San Francisco wouldn’t bring another run in to score until the seventh on a double and a base hit. The 28-year-old right-hander will take a 3.60 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, and a 47/10 K/BB ratio across 45 innings into a start against the Phillies in Atlanta on Tuesday.

Holmes produced 21 missed swings and eight strikeouts, so even though the line wasn’t great, there were positives again tonight. It’s not a lock that Holmes will stay in the rotation after this, but he remains interesting in deeper formats.

Schwellenbach isn’t being shut down, and is merely having his next outing pushed back a couple extra days in an effort to carefully manage his workload over the final few weeks of the year since he’s already up to 110 2/3 innings this season between the majors and minors after just 65 frames last year in his professional debut. The hard-throwing 24-year-old rookie right-hander, who is coming off back-to-back double-digit strikeout performances, was originally slated to take the ball on Friday against the Rockies. That’s no longer happening. It’ll be Grant Holmes drawing a spot start in his place. No word yet on when Schwellenbach will make his next start, but it’ll likely come at some point next week during a four-game series against the Giants at Oracle Park. He should be rostered in all fantasy formats at this juncture and is rapidly emerging as a legit SP3 for fantasy managers.

Holmes gets the ball for an extremely tough matchup in Coors Field’s high-octane offensive environment after allowing three runs over 4 2/3 innings last Saturday in a no-decision against the Marlins. The 28-year-old righty has been pitching well for the Braves since being called up back in mid-June, but he’s not a recommended streaming option for fantasy managers in Colorado.