Grant Holmes

Organization Prospect Rankings

• 
  Ranked Oakland Athletics #18 prospect in 2021
  TRACK RECORD: Holmes arrived in the A's system following a 2016 trade that sent Rich Hill and Josh Reddick to the Dodgers. He missed almost all of 2018 with a right shoulder injury, but returned to Double-A Midland in 2019 and gained momentum as the season progressed. He spent 2020 at the alternate training site in San Jose.
  
  SCOUTING REPORT: Stuff has never been an issue for Holmes. He attacks hitters with a heavy 92-94 mph fastball that generates plenty of ground balls and a power curveball that draws plus grades and is among the best in Oakland's system. He recently added a cutter and also throws a changeup, which are both at least average, and all of his stuff plays up in shorter outings. But hitters have a surprisingly easy time squaring Holmes up, leading the A's to tinker with his long-armed delivery and sequencing in the hopes of adding more deception. So far it's yielded mixed results. His control is fringe-average.
  
  THE FUTURE: Holmes should start 2021 in the rotation at Triple-A. He could ultimately be better suited for a spot in Oakland's bullpen if he doesn't display better deception and command.
• 
  Ranked Oakland Athletics #17 prospect in 2020
  TRACK RECORD: Holmes came to Oakland in 2016 in the trade that sent Rich Hill and Josh Reddick to the Dodgers. After missing the majority of 2018 with a right rotator cuff injury. Holmes returned to Midland in 2019 and got better every month, while cutting down his walks and increasing his strikeouts.
  
  SCOUTING REPORT: Holmes is deceptively athletic despite a strong, athletic build. He's continued to develop as a starter though he may be best suited for the pen due to size and deception issues. Holmes has a solid, 92-96 mph fastball with life, but his go-to pitch continues to be a powerful mid-80s curveball with good depth in the zone. He has used a hard, 89-93 mph cutter over the past few years to open up the corners and also will also show a fringy changeup. While healthy in 2019, there are some lingering health concerns due to arm action and the stress his delivery puts on his shoulder.
  
  THE FUTURE: Still just 24 despite entering his seventh season in pro ball, Holmes will likely make a return to Las Vegas after ending his season there in 2019.
• 
  Ranked Oakland Athletics #13 prospect in 2019
  Track Record: The Dodgers drafted Holmes 22nd overall in 2014 and developed him up to high Class A in 2016 before trading him with two other pitching prospects to the Athletics for Rich Hill and Josh Reddick. Holmes gathered momentum at Double-A Midland in 2017, when he led the Texas League with 150 strikeouts and addressed his platoon-split issue with lefthanded batters. A rotator cuff injury cost him all but two starts in 2018, however, and clouded his outlook for 2019.
  
  Scouting Report: Holmes returned to the mound in 2018 to make one start for high Class A Stockton in the California League playoffs. The A's brought him to instructional league to ready for an assignment to the Arizona Fall League, but that plan was scuttled when he had a setback after one appearance. Holmes' high-spin fastball plays at 92-94 mph up in the zone and peaks at 96. His power curveball draws consistent plus grades from scouts, and the cutter he developed in 2017 shows promise and average potential. He never has shown much feel for a changeup. Below-average control and imprecise fastball command have long hinted at a future in the bullpen.
  
  The Future: Holmes showed no durability concerns prior to his 2018 shoulder injury, so he could continue to develop as a starter when he returns. Now that Holmes is a member of the 40-man roster, he could be in line for spot starts in 2019 if he is healthy and effective.
• 
  Ranked Oakland Athletics #12 prospect in 2018
  One of three pitchers along with Jharel Cotton and Frankie Montas the A's acquired from the Dodgers in the Rich Hill-Josh Reddick trade at the 2016 deadline, Holmes spent all of 2017 as a 21-year-old at Double-A Midland. Holmes has intriguing stuff with a 92-95 fastball that has riding life up in the zone, and a power curveball that draws plus grades. With that stuff he averaged more than a strikeout per inning with Midland, on par with his four-season average in the minors. What Holmes needs to improve and refine is his fastball command, not only to find the strike zone but to avoid throwing hittable fastballs across the middle of the plate as well. Back-to-back starts near the end of the regular season highlighted the “bad” and “good” Holmes. On Aug. 29 against San Antonio, he threw 94 pitches, courtesy of six walks, in five innings. On Sept. 3 against Frisco, he threw 94 pitches, with a one walk, in eight innings. Holmes figures to begin 2018 at Triple-A Nashville. How quickly and effectively he can harness his command will go a long way toward determining when he might pitch for Oakland.
• 
  Ranked Oakland Athletics #6 prospect in 2017
  The highest-drafted prep righthander ever from South Carolina--22nd overall--Holmes was drafted three spots ahead Matt Chapman, Oakland's first pick in 2014. The A's acquired Holmes from the Dodgers in the five-player deal that also yielded Jharel Cotton and Frankie Montas. Holmes pitched effectively early at high Class A Rancho Cucamonga, but after the trade he struggled with Stockton as he surpassed his previous career high for innings. Holmes has a power arm with a riding 92-95 mph fastball with tremendous sink that produces a well above-average groundball rate. His power curve at 80-83 mph gives him a strikeout pitch, and he can cut his fastball as well. His changeup has its moments and has a chance to be average but lefthanded hitters took advantage of its inconsistency, hitting .303 against him. Holmes is an above-average athlete but at times lands stiffly on his front leg and also has timing issues separating his hands and getting his arm in sync with the rest of his body. Holmes' delivery issues are correctable, and at 20 he was one of the youngest players in the California League. The A's may slow him down a bit and have him repeat high Class A in 2017, though his ceiling remains mid-rotation starter.
• 
  Ranked Los Angeles Dodgers #6 prospect in 2016
  Holmes became the highest drafted South Carolina prep righthander ever when the Dodgers took him at No. 18 overall in 2014. He signed for $2.5 million. He spent the 2015 season at low Class A Great Lakes, where he struck out 10.2 per nine innings. Holmes fires a plus fastball at 92-95 mph, with the ability to peak at 98. His fastball has good riding life, and he's able to throw it with more downhill angle than most 6-foot-1 pitchers. When Holmes is going well, he has a power curveball that can be a plus pitch, but his breaking ball wasn't reliable in 2015. Regaining feel to spin his curveball consistently will be a goal for Holmes heading into 2016, but in some ways it helped his development. On nights where he struggled to find his curve, he started to throw his changeup more frequently and had some success, which encouraged him to throw it more. Holmes didn't throw a change in high school, but the pitch now flashes above-average at times. He is an athletic power pitcher who still is learning the touch-and-feel aspects of pitching. He walked 4.7 batters per nine in 2015 and has worked to shorten his arm stroke and stay more on line to the plate to throw more strikes. Holmes will head to high Class A Rancho Cucamonga in 2016, where his command will be tested in a run environment where free baserunners can be costly. If he can develop average command, Holmes has a chance to be at least a mid-rotation starter.
• 
  Ranked Los Angeles Dodgers #4 prospect in 2015
  The Dodgers spent their 2014 first-round pick on Holmes, popping him at No. 18 overall to make him the highest drafted South Carolina high school righthander in modern history. After signing for $2.5 million, Holmes threw plenty of strikes and struck out more than a batter per inning in his pro debut in Rookie ball. He has a strong, filled-out frame with broad shoulders and two power pitches. His fastball parks anywhere from 91-96 mph and peaks at 98. Holmes calls his breaking ball a power curveball, while the Dodgers refer to it as a slider. Either way, it's a plus pitch in the low-80s with three-quarters break. Those two pitches help him strike out a lot of hitters, though he's still learning to take something off his breaking ball for an early-count strike instead of trying to induce a swing and a miss with every pitch. Holmes has mostly focused on two pitches, but he worked on his changeup during instructional league and it's flashed above-average. There's some recoil at the end of his delivery, and his long arm stroke wouldn't typically suggest above-average control, but he's athletic, repeats his delivery and threw plenty of strikes in his pro debut. He does get in trouble when he leaves his fastball up in the strike zone. Holmes is reminiscent of righthander Chad Billingsley, the Dodgers' 2003 first-round pick out of high school. He will open his first full season in low Class A Great Lakes, with a chance to develop into a No. 2 or 3 starter.

Draft Prospects

• Ranked #16 prospect in 2014 draft
  For the fourth straight season, South Carolina will produce a prep righthander in the top two rounds of the draft. Before this streak started, just two Palmetto prep pitchers had been drafted in that range since the draft went to a single phase. Holmes could even outdo Taylor Guerrieri (No. 24 overall to the National in 2011) as the highest-drafted South Carolina prep pitcher in modern history. Holmes has some of the best present stuff in the class. He came out sitting 93-96 mph, touching 98 early in the season and then 91-94 in some later starts. His power curveball is one of the top breaking balls in the country, a plus pitch that flashes better. On the showcase circuit, Holmes was primarily a two-pitch pitcher with a seldom-used changeup. But the offering has become a legitimate above-average weapon that could become plus. The biggest knock against Holmes is his powerful, broad-shouldered and barrel-chested 6-foot, 216-pound body that offers limited physical projection. Scouts say his fastball can play true up in the zone when he fails to locate down, and he leaves too many high fastballs most games. His delivery with recoil and a long arm swing is unlikely to produce plus control. But he has present stuff and pitchability. Holmes, a Florida signee, is the younger brother of Colby Holmes, a two-time national champion at South Carolina.

Minor League Top Prospects

• 
  Ranked Texas League #17 prospect in 2017
  A 2014 first-round pick by the Dodgers who was traded to the Athletics last July in the Rich Hill-Josh Reddick trade, Holmes spent the entire season at Midland. After a career-high 148.1 innings, he ended the season with a 4.48 ERA. Working off of a 91-95 mph fastball, Holmes recently added a cutter to his four-pitch repertoire that has helped him against lefthanded batters, who hit just .189 off of him this year. Conversely, righthanders hit .309 despite Holmes' above-average big-breaking curveball with power. He throws a fringy changeup. Poor command of his fastball has limited Holmes' ability to maximize his secondary pitches. If he improves his command, he has No. 3 starter upside.
• 
  Ranked California League #4 prospect in 2016
  Holmes showed a power arm with a riding 92-95 mph fastball and 80-83 power curve, but his lack of a consistent third pitch and inefficiencies in his delivery have evaluators split on his future role. Holmes pitched well early at Rancho Cucamonga, but after a deadline trade to the Athletics he struggled badly with Stockton as he reached 105 innings, surpassing his previous career high. "I think it was maybe him pressing a little bit and trying to impress his new team," San Jose manager Lipso Nava said. "He's got all the chance in the world to be a good starter. He's got the arm and he's got the tools to be there." Holmes at times lands stiffly on his front leg and also has timing issues separating his hands and getting his arm in sync with the rest of his body. His above-average athleticism, raw arm strength and youth are all factors in the argument he can fix those issues and in the process improve his command, which was often spotty in 2016.
• 
  Ranked Midwest League #8 prospect in 2015
  A broad-shouldered, thick-chested righthander with present strength but little projection, Holmes struck out 10.2 batters per nine innings at Great Lakes thanks largely to a devastating breaking ball. His tight, sharp curve is a 12-to-6 dive-bomber at times, but at other times, his plus breaking ball has two-plane tilt that gives it more of a slider appearance in the low 80s. Both varieties of the breaking ball were nearly impossible for MWL hitters to figure out. Holmes' 93-94 mph fastball gives him a potential second plus pitch, though he has more work ahead to develop the pitch. He has worked to clean up his delivery and tone down the recoil in his finish, but he still struggles to get the ball down in the strike zone. As a shorter (6-foot-1) righthander with a low three-quarters arm slot, Holmes will have to have plenty of fastball life to survive up in the zone, even if he has above-average velocity. Because of that, some scouts envision him as a power reliever with two plus pitches. Holmes will continue to develop as a starter for now, but his fastball control wavers and his changeup needs a lot of development.
• 
  Ranked Arizona Complex League #2 prospect in 2014
  Drafted 22nd overall, Holmes became the highest-drafted South Carolina prep pitcher in modern history, and the Dodgers kept him away from a Florida commitment with a $2.5 million bonus. Holmes has a power pitcher's body that doesn't offer a lot of projection but produces premium stuff. His fastball reached 97 mph this summer with good movement, and he showed impressive command of the strike zone. His power curveball from 81-86 mph is already a plus pitch. Holmes is working on a changeup that is not yet a solid pitch but could be a plus offering in time, and he also experimented with a two-seam fastball. While he commands his pitches well, he occasionally got into trouble when he elevated his fastball up in the zone. Scouts liked his mound presence and bulldog mentality. "He was able to throw the ball over the plate and put the ball where he wanted to," Dodgers manager John Shoemaker said, "and he was able to make some adjustments."

Top 100 Rankings

• Ranked Baseball America's #72 prospect in 2016
• Ranked Baseball America's #74 prospect in 2015

• March, 2021 Scouting Report
  TRACK RECORD: Holmes arrived in the A's system following a 2016 trade that sent Rich Hill and Josh Reddick to the Dodgers. He missed almost all of 2018 with a right shoulder injury, but returned to Double-A Midland in 2019 and gained momentum as the season progressed. He spent 2020 at the alternate training site in San Jose.
  
  SCOUTING REPORT: Stuff has never been an issue for Holmes. He attacks hitters with a heavy 92-94 mph fastball that generates plenty of ground balls and a power curveball that draws plus grades and is among the best in Oakland's system. He recently added a cutter and also throws a changeup, which are both at least average, and all of his stuff plays up in shorter outings. But hitters have a surprisingly easy time squaring Holmes up, leading the A's to tinker with his long-armed delivery and sequencing in the hopes of adding more deception. So far it's yielded mixed results. His control is fringe-average.
  
  THE FUTURE: Holmes should start 2021 in the rotation at Triple-A. He could ultimately be better suited for a spot in Oakland's bullpen if he doesn't display better deception and command.
• December, 2020 Scouting Report
  TRACK RECORD: Holmes arrived in the A's system following a 2016 trade that sent Rich Hill and Josh Reddick to the Dodgers. He missed almost all of 2018 with a right shoulder injury, but returned to Double-A Midland in 2019 and gained momentum as the season progressed. He spent 2020 at the alternate training site in San Jose.
  
  SCOUTING REPORT: Stuff has never been an issue for Holmes. He attacks hitters with a heavy 92-94 mph fastball that generates plenty of ground balls and a power curveball that draws plus grades and is among the best in Oakland's system. He recently added a cutter and also throws a changeup, which are both at least average, and all of his stuff plays up in shorter outings. But hitters have a surprisingly easy time squaring Holmes up, leading the A's to tinker with his long-armed delivery and sequencing in the hopes of adding more deception. So far it's yielded mixed results. His control is fringe-average.
  
  THE FUTURE: Holmes should start 2021 in the rotation at Triple-A. He could ultimately be better suited for a spot in Oakland's bullpen if he doesn't display better deception and command.
• July, 2020 Scouting Report
  TRACK RECORD: Holmes came to Oakland in 2016 in the trade that sent Rich Hill and Josh Reddick to the Dodgers. After missing the majority of 2018 with a right rotator cuff injury. Holmes returned to Midland in 2019 and got better every month, while cutting down his walks and increasing his strikeouts.
  
  SCOUTING REPORT: Holmes is deceptively athletic despite a strong, athletic build. He’s continued to develop as a starter though he may be best suited for the pen due to size and deception issues. Holmes has a solid, 92-96 mph fastball with life, but his go-to pitch continues to be a powerful mid-80s curveball with good depth in the zone. He has used a hard, 89-93 mph cutter over the past few years to open up the corners and also will also show a fringy changeup. While healthy in 2019, there are some lingering health concerns due to arm action and the stress his delivery puts on his shoulder.
  
  THE FUTURE: Still just 24 despite entering his seventh season in pro ball, Holmes will likely make a return to Las Vegas after ending his season there in 2019.
• February, 2020 Scouting Report
  TRACK RECORD: Holmes came to Oakland in 2016 in the trade that sent Rich Hill and Josh Reddick to the Dodgers. After missing the majority of 2018 with a right rotator cuff injury. Holmes returned to Midland in 2019 and got better every month, while cutting down his walks and increasing his strikeouts.
  
  SCOUTING REPORT: Holmes is deceptively athletic despite a strong, athletic build. He's continued to develop as a starter though he may be best suited for the pen due to size and deception issues. Holmes has a solid, 92-96 mph fastball with life, but his go-to pitch continues to be a powerful mid-80s curveball with good depth in the zone. He has used a hard, 89-93 mph cutter over the past few years to open up the corners and also will also show a fringy changeup. While healthy in 2019, there are some lingering health concerns due to arm action and the stress his delivery puts on his shoulder.
  
  THE FUTURE: Still just 24 despite entering his seventh season in pro ball, Holmes will likely make a return to Las Vegas after ending his season there in 2019.
• December, 2016 Scouting Report
  Background: The highest-drafted prep righthander ever from South Carolina--22nd overall--Holmes was drafted three spots ahead Matt Chapman, Oakland's first pick in 2014. The A's acquired Holmes from the Dodgers in the five-player deal that also yielded Jharel Cotton and Frankie Montas. Holmes pitched effectively early at high Class A Rancho Cucamonga, but after the trade he struggled with Stockton as he surpassed his previous career high for innings. Scouting Report: Holmes has a power arm with a riding 92-95 mph fastball with tremendous sink that produces a well above-average groundball rate. His power curve at 80-83 mph gives him a strikeout pitch, and he can cut his fastball as well. His changeup has its moments and has a chance to be average but lefthanded hitters took advantage of its inconsistency, hitting .303 against him. Holmes is an above-average athlete but at times lands stiffly on his front leg and also has timing issues separating his hands and getting his arm in sync with the rest of his body.
  
  The Future: Holmes' delivery issues are correctable, and at 20 he was one of the youngest players in the California League. The A's may slow him down a bit and have him repeat high Class A in 2017, though his ceiling remains mid-rotation starter.