Free agent closer picked to land with Phillies is nightmare fuel for fans

The Philadelphia Phillies recently saw two of their bullpen stalwarts from the 2024 season walk, as both Jeff Hoffman and Carlos Estévez entered free agency this offseason. With two potential relievers with closer potential leaving the Phillies at the same time, that has left a huge hole to fill in their relief corps heading into 2025.

Fortunately, there are many potential options available to choose from in the free agent market.

With MLB Trade Rumors' recent release of their 19th annual Top 50 Free Agents list, one of their experts, Anthony Franco, predicted that former New York Yankees closer Clay Holmes would land with the Phillies this offseason. Mark Feinsand of MLB.com was in total agreement with that, as he also picked the Phillies as the potential fit for the 31-year-old.

Free agent closer Clay Holmes would be nightmare fuel for Phillies fans 

At first glance, with such huge endorsements, Holmes would appear to be a great addition to Philadelphia. But taking a closer look at the numbers from this past season, that could actually be a nightmare scenario for the Phillies and their fans.

After all, despite proving to be a relatively reliable reliever in the big leagues in recent years, Holmes ended up struggling this year as a closer after a strong start. In particular, during the second half of the season, it even got to a point where he eventually lost the role.

Holmes blew a league-leading 13 saves over the course of 2024, but somehow still ended up with a 3.14 ERA, 1.30 WHIP and 30 saves by the end of the year when all was said and done.

Holmes did manage to salvage his season a bit by posting a more solid postseason in which he went 3-1 with a 2.25 ERA and 1.08 WHIP with five walks and 12 strikeouts in 12 innings pitched over 13 playoff games for the Yankees.

Nevertheless, from the multiple flashbacks of the inconsistency that he showed during the regular season, the last thing that the Phillies and their fans need is potential reminders of the Craig Kimbrel experience of 2023 and the collective bullpen meltdowns from the 2024 postseason run. As a result, the Phillies should go for the more consistent and reliable option, such as Tanner Scott.

So, if the Phillies want to avoid potential issues and heartbreak with Holmes on the mound in high-leverage situations, they should be wise and steer clear of the 2023 All-Star.

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