The Mets’ season from hell continues as manager Carlos Mendoza stated that Clay Holmes will go on the injured list with a fractured fibula. He got hit by a comebacker off the bat of Spencer Jones in the fourth inning of Friday night’s game against the New York Yankees, finished the inning, and then came out to start the fifth before leaving after two batters. It is unclear just how much time Holmes will miss.

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Holmes joins a long list of injured Mets this season, including Juan Soto (calf), Francisco Lindor (calf), Jorge Polanco (Achilles and wrist), Francisco Alvarez (meniscus), Luis Robert Jr. (back), Kodai Senga (back), Mike Tauchman (knee), Jared Young (knee), and Ronny Mauricio (thumb). Only Soto so far has returned.

The Mets could potentially stretch out Tobias Myers or Sean Manaea to fill the rotation spot. Myers threw 25 pitches in today’s game, and Manaea threw 20 pitches in his last outing on May 10. Outside of one rough outing at Coors Field, Myers has been very solid this season and thrown as many as 40 pitches or three innings this season. Manaea has been much more shaky, but he did average 91.3 miles per hour on his fastball in his last outing. While it is unclear how many innings he could maintain that for, that outing marked a big velocity jump from his previous shorter appearances.

Also on the major league roster is Austin Warren, who has started games before and been used in long relief. Luke Weaver also has experience starting, but he has excelled the last few years as a high-leverage reliever, and there’s no chance he’ll move from that role for the Mets.

The Mets could choose to pull from their 40-man roster depth, either in a long-term stint or as a spot starter. Jonah Tong has been uneven as he works on developing more pitches but has experience in the majors. Jonathan Pintaro has mostly pitched in relief, but he has experience starting and most of his outings this year have been multi-inning. Jack Wenninger and Zach Thornton are not on the 40-man roster, but are options if the Mets would like to give extended run to a prospect.

Senga will likely return at some point, so the Mets’ solution may simply be a stopgap depending on how long both he and Holmes are out. Because of how the club’s off days are set from May 28 to June 7, they’ll need just four starters during that span as well.

Holmes has a player option for 2027 worth $12 million. Even with this injury, it seems likely he would easily beat that in free agency. The Mets may still give him the qualifying offer depending on how the remainder of his season goes, and this injury could make him accepting it more likely.

Holmes has thrown 55 2/3 innings to a 2.39 ERA and 1.10 WHIP this season and will very much be missed.