Grant Holmes, aka Lettuce, has become one of my favorite players on this Braves team. Holmes was drafted in the first round of the 2014 draft by the Dodgers, but was traded to the Athletics in 2016 where he was allowed to rot in that abomination of an organization for 7 years. The Braves picked him up as a free agent in August of 2022 and unlocked something inside him. During his time with the A’s org, Holmes carried high ERAs and poor K/BB rates. When he came to the Braves, he completely transformed:
- Velocity increased
- Walks decreased
- Strikeouts increased
- ERA shrunk
- WHIP shrunk
Holmes carried a 4.67 K/BB rate for the Braves in 2024 over the course of 68.2 innings. As a starter, he carried a 4.01 ERA and a 4.44 K/BB rate. As a reliever, he carried a 3.12 ERA with a 5 K/BB rate.
If I had my way, the Braves wouldn’t go after another starter and utilize Grant Holmes in that role. His peripherals are great and would be an ideal 5th starter.
After he made his MLB debut, the AJC posted a piece on his journey and it is well worth the read. When Grant talks, it feels like you’re hearing a kid talking about his heroes and how those heroes are now his peers and friends. Here’s an excerpt:
“Honestly, everything,” he said. “Everything. Literally down to just the smallest details. And you know, there’s people in here that I’ve said before that I’ve played with on (the video game) ‘MLB the Show’ when I was back in high school. It’s like, ‘Wow, these guys are still playing.’ It’s crazy. It’s insane.”
He paused and chuckled.
“You know, like Chris Sale – I was playing with him when I was younger. Friggin’ (Charlie) Morton. It’s kind of like a dream come true. It’s like, I’m teammates with these guys. It’s crazy.”
Moreover, those video-game characters come to life now greeting him is its own shock.
“Literally,” Holmes said. “It’s crazy. I try not to act, like, star-struck. But to a certain extent, it’s like, ‘Wow, these guys are like, 10-, 15-year big leaguers, and here I am over here, this is my third day in the big leagues. It’s crazy.”
I hope the Braves stick with Holmes. Both his journey and his abilities are worthy of a roster spot.
Late seeing the excellent post on Ozzie, but I just wanted to comment that the picture of him looked like it should be a black-and-white picture from the 1950s.
Nice post, Ryan. I too hope Grant’s given the opportunity to prove he doesn’t belong.
But lettuce …?
Lettuce is a new term for long curly locks!
https://housethathankbuilt.com/potential-ozzie-albies-bombshell-could-unlock-braves-making-blockbuster-trade
Let me say that I absolutely hate the idea of trading a guy who signed such a team-friendly deal. It is a knife in the back. That said, if you were gonna build a Crochet package around Albies and then you signed Bregman to play 2nd, that would be a heckuva offseason.
AA has explicitly said he won’t trade any of the guys who signed team-friendly extensions.
The moment he does, guys will stop signing them.
Bingo.
Bowman was the one the stated the Braves could trade Albies for Crochet and should know the Braves policies regarding not trading players on team friendly deals
Yes, but let’s still trade for Crochet
Bowman has column inches to sell and probably spoke to someone who hypothesized it which is enough to write a vague paragraph.
Ozuna was around during his down years because it kept Acuña happy. What do you think trading Ozzie will do?
Not make Acuna happy for sure
I don’t think Ozzie will be traded for the reasons you all mentioned, but I do think it’s unlikely he gets both of his team options picked up, unfortunately. He’s one of my favorites, and I hope he has a huge 2025, but the injuries are really adding up and he’s never had the greatest approach at the plate.
Not much free agent news, but reading between the lines, I can’t imagine we’ll sign Adames. Whichever New York team that misses Soto will be all over him, as well as Los Angeles and San Francisco.
Here are my off season predictions:
Sign Eovaldi for 2 years/$52 million
Trade AJSS, Richie, McCabe and Nacho to St. Louis for Helsley and Nootbaar
Kelenic gets traded for a LH bullpen piece
Sign a RH platoon/backup
I feel pretty confident we’ll sign either Buehler or Eovaldi but I think Eovaldi will cost less.
I’d much rather trade Waldrep, but Bowman’s recent article makes it sound like the Braves are holding on to him. I also don’t think we’re trading Baldwin until it’s clear Murphy is back to normal or it’s a huge trade (e.g. Kyle Tucker).
AA loves bullpen arms and Nootbaar is basically what the Braves hoped Kelenic would turn into.
Kelenic is probably a sunk cost at this point.
Ozuna looks to be prepping for OF duty again. Dude’s lost quite a bit of weight.
Trade AJSS, Richie, McCabe and Nacho to St. Louis for Helsley and Nootbaar. Nope. Trade out AJSS for Waldrep and Richie for Owen Murphy, then maybe. Helsley doen’t like the chop though and has been very vocal about that
My reply to Ryan saying Ozuna might be prepping for OF work is the “Oh no, please no!” Office meme.
Why the Braves want to keep Waldrep is unclear to me. Like Ian Anderson, he has decent velocity, very poor command and low spin rates. I would trade him tomorrow for Crochet and even pay for his plane ticket
I forgot about the Helsley stuff. That definitely won’t happen.
I just saw the Severino deal. No way we get Eovaldi for less than that. Yikes.
Yeah, I think our most likely big moves are trades at this point.
“Oh no. We’d never trade Waldrep. Not even if you offered your best prospects” is what I’d say if I wanted to trade Waldrep.