Already spiraling down the barrel with multiple injured players, the New York Mets suffered another brutal blow against the Yankees. Star starter Clay Holmes may miss the rest of the season after fracturing his fibula in a play involving a hard hit back from Spencer Jones.

The Yankees slugger was unaware of the injuries, and it was a reporter who had to break the news to him. Upon hearing it, Jones was visibly upset.

"Oh, I didn’t know that," he said quietly. "That’s the first I’ve heard of that. I’m sorry. He’s a good friend of mine. We work out in Nashville together, so that’s tough to hear."

Holmes, a former Yankees pitcher, is expected to miss significant time, according to Mets skipper Carlos Mendoza. The fiasco unfolded in the fourth inning when Jones stepped up to the plate with Holmes on the mound.

Moments later, Jones ripped a 111.1 mph liner straight into Holmes’ lower right leg. He looked stable at first, but later showed a noticeable limp during the game.

Despite being checked by the trainers and the skipper, Holmes carried it through the fifth innings, but after the game, Mets announced that their ace pitcher had fractured his fibula.

It is certainly a big blow to the Mets' rotation as Holmes entered the game with a 4-3 record and a stellar 1.86 ERA. The ERA unfortunately increased to 2.39, and he gave away four runs.

Carlos Mendoza on Clay Holmes' injury

Clay Holmes was one of the Mets’ most consistent aces, and with him on the mound, the team went 4-3. Now, with Holmes expected to be out for a long time, Mendoza was clearly disheartened.

"It’s a huge blow," Mendoza said. "He’s been one of the most consistent guys that we had in that rotation." Despite the injury, he still stayed on the mound for his team. "That’s the crazy part," Mendoza added.

Speaking about his teammate, Juan Soto expressed, "We all know how tough he is. He’s not going to come out that easily. When I saw him coming out of the game in the next inning, that's when I was thinking something was wrong."

Holmes will undergo further medical evaluations in the meantime. That said, a fibula fracture typically takes 6–12 weeks to heal, making it highly likely that Holmes will miss the remainder of his 2026 campaign.

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Written by

Suryakant Das

Edited by

Yask Kotak