Grant Holmes struggles in no-decision vs. Nats

A nice bounceback for Holmes after he couldn’t get out of this fifth inning against the Nationals on Thursday. The right-hander allowed five hits, and just one of those went for extra bases; a doubled by Javier Sanoja. He walked one against five strikeouts in a very solid effort for the 30-year-old hurler. If the rotation order holds, it’ll be Holmes against the Yankees on Sunday, but fantasy managers will need to make sure as Atlanta has made changes to the order a few times in 2026.

Sale won’t start at all against Miami, and instead is being pushed back to the weekend series against the Yankees. Atlanta will instead push up the other arms in the rotation, so Grant Holmes, Bryce Elder and Martin Perez will be the arms who go instead. It’s disappointing Sale won’t get a two-start week this late in the fantasy season, but understandable.

The O’s got after Holmes in the second inning, generating a mini two-out rally that was capped with a two-RBI double by Christian Encarnacion-Strand to put the O’s up 2-0. After the Braves drew the game even at 2-2 in the top of the fourth inning, Holmes would give up a sacrifice fly to Jackson Holliday, who drove home Taylor Ward to put the O’s back up 3-2. Holmes would induce back-to-back grounders in the fifth inning to get out of a jam with two runners on in what would be his final inning. Holmes remains a steady option on the mound for the Braves and his fantasy managers, having allowed three earned runs or fewer in every start since May 1st, when he allowed five earned runs to the Rockies. He is next scheduled to start on Wednesday on the road against the Mets.

Holmes wasn’t great, but good enough with plenty of run support to get his sixth win of the season. He was able to keep the ball in the park, which helped limit the damage of giving up seven hits and a pair of walks against just two strikeouts. The 30-year-old sees his ERA bump up to a still-solid 3.70 on the campaign, and he’ll have a chance to lower the effort against the Orioles over the weekend.

Holmes allowed three hits as the Braves went on to win 3-0. Opposing starter Jared Jones was pulled despite having a perfect game through six, and Atlanta made the bullpen pay for the decision. Holmes finishes the first half with a respectable 3.61 ERA. The Braves host the Rangers coming out of the All-Star break.

That means Bryce Elder will get the ball for one of the final two games of the series with Grant Holmes likely to draw the starting assignment in the other. Elder had his previous start skipped for some extra rest. Waldrep authored a strong performance against the Cardinals last week, allowing three runs over 5 1/3 innings, during his first start of the season. He offers enough strikeout upside to be interesting in deeper fantasy leagues.

Holmes pitched well enough to beat the Mets here, which isn’t saying much. Still, the only mistake he made came on a two-run home run by Juan Soto that barely left the yard. That was also just after an error by the sure-handed Matt Olson, hence Holmes’ one unearned run. All in all, it was a split yet unspectacular start, much like Holmes’ season. Overall, he has a 3.83 ERA, 71 strikeouts, and 38 walks through 82 1/3 innings. He’s lined up to face the Pirates in Pittsburgh next week to close out his first half.

Elder will get some additional time off to recover after experiencing some diminished velocity during his last start against the Giants where he allowed five runs over four innings last Saturday. The 27-year-old will be pushed back to next week’s series against the Pirates. It’ll be Grant Holmes taking the ball for Friday’s game against the Mets.

Holmes taking the ball is contingent on whether Hurston Waldrep makes an appearance in relief during Wednesday’s contest. Simply put, he’ll move into a relief role if Waldrep is available to take the ball on Thursday at Truist Park. He made his first relief appearance of the season over the weekend when he tossed four shutout frames against San Francisco.

The lengthy relief appearance suggests that the Braves will follow through with the idea of putting Hurston Waldrep into the rotation in Holmes’ place next time through. It’s not a lock, since their off day Monday gives them options in how to proceed, but it already seemed to be the plan. Holmes’ relief appearance was his first after 15 starts with a 4-4 record and a 4.17 ERA this season.