Clay Holmes impressive again, but bullpen blows lead

Holmes gave up six hits, walked three and struck out two. He fell to 6-7 with the loss. Holmes had been excellent in his first five starts with the Cubs with a 1.55 ERA, so he now has a 2.83 ERA on the year. Holmes is lined up to face the Pirates at home next weekend, where he’ll look to bounce back against the team that drafted him in the ninth round of the 2011 MLB Draft.

Holmes gave up five hits, walked two and struck out eight. He improved to 6-6 with the win. Holmes dominated the Brewers while the Cubs scored nine runs while he was still in the game, leading to an easy victory. Holmes allowed four runs in his first start with the Cubs, but has since allowed only one earned run in 25 innings (0.36 ERA) over his last four starts. He has a 2.09 ERA this year. Holmes is lined up to face the Marlins on the road this weekend.

Holmes didn’t have his best velocity today and wound up with just one strikeout, but he was again effective. After struggling some in his first start back from a fractured fibula, he’s allowed one run and seven hits over 12 innings in his last two starts. His next start will come against a Diamondbacks team that nearly traded for him earlier this month.

He allowed just one hit -- a poke from Jose Fermín in the sixth -- and left after hitting 80 pitches while walking Jordan Walker. Holmes is lined up for a nice start in Seattle next week. It looks like he’ll be a useful 12-team starter down the stretch despite the low strikeout rate.

In his first start in nearly three months since suffering a fractured fibula, Holmes allowed six hits, walked two and struck out one in two trips around the Royals order. Jac Caglianone got to him both times, homering in the first and then doubling and scoring in the third. Holmes did at least do a pretty good job of getting most of the rest of the Royals to hit the ball on the ground. He might have another shaky start or two this month, but he’ll probably be somewhat useful in mixed leagues the rest of the way. He’ll face the Cardinals next.

After nearly three months off, Holmes will make his return and his Cubs debut in a start tonight against the Royals.

Chicago manager Craig Counsell confirmed that Holmes will not require any additional minor league rehab starts. The tandem of trade deadline acquisitions will get the ball later this week when the Cubs head to Kansas City for a three-game series that gets underway on Friday.

Holmes shores up Chicago’s starting rotation depth issues, joining veteran Kevin Gausman as the club’s big-time trade deadline moves. The 33-year-old impending free agent is on the cusp of returning to the majors after fracturing his fibula back in mid-May. He’s looked sharp in a pair of recent minor league rehab starts and should be ready to make his Chicago debut later this week.

This is a big one. Chicago came into the trade deadline desperately seeking starting pitching help and they’ve seemingly came away with Holmes in addition to veteran Kevin Gausman. They paid a steep price to land the impending free agent as Rojas is one of their better infield prospects. The emergence of Pedro Ramírez as an everyday option at the highest level seems to be what made him expendable. Holmes looked sharp in a pair of recent minor league rehab outings and should step into Chicago’s new-look rotation by mid-August, if not sooner. Taylor feels like a throw-in, but he’s been sizzling-hot at the dish lately and provides the Cubs with a lefty-mashing bench option for the home stretch.

All of those teams besides the D-backs have already acquired starters in deadline deals, but Holmes comes with the added bonus of potentially being very valuable out of the pen in October if he isn’t needed as a starter. A deal should happen.