Adopted - Brad Holt

[Benjamin Grimm]

I'd like to think that Parnell and Holt are the future of the Mets bullpen.

[Edgy MD]

I'd like 'em both in the rotation.

[Benjamin Grimm]

That would be better, wouldn't it?

[MFS62]

From the administrator of a pay-fer website (Mets Inside Pitch), Brad was promoted to Binghamton today.

Later

[Guest Rockin' Doc]

I'm busting with pride as Holt takes a step up to AA Binghamton. Hopefully, his fastball will prove just as dominating in Binghamton as it has at St. Lucie and every other stop along the way.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Rockin' Doc wrote: I'm busting with pride as Holt takes a step up to AA Binghamton. Hopefully, his fastball will prove just as dominating in Binghamton as it has at St. Lucie and every other stop along the way.

That's what tossing over a strikeout an inning, while keeping a 5:1 K/BB ratio, will do for you. (Mejia also got the promotion.)

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Q-and-A, courtesy of Metsblog:

(First emphasized passage encourages... second emphasized passage disheartens. I understand the Braves... but King Dushbag? Rilly, Brad?)

Last month, during my trip to Double-A Binghamton, I talked with Holt. Matthew Cerrone: What has the adjustment to Double-A been like thus far? Brad Holt: The hitters here are a little more patient. From talking to everybody, they said that if you made mistakes pitching it would cost you� they�d square the ball up. And that�s one thing that I did notice, they get a lot more solid contact, and they square the ball up. Matthew Cerrone: I talked to you during spring training and all the guys were goofing on you about only throwing fast balls. How is that coming along? How are the other pitches working? Brad Holt: They are coming along great. The change-up, like I said in spring training, is just a matter of repetition, and the change-up has gotten to be almost a plus-pitch now, and I have been using it a lot. Matt Cerrone: What pitcher or teams did you enjoy watching as a kid? Brad Holt: Well, the only team that we had close by us in North Carolina were the Braves. Other than that, I liked watching Roger Clemens growing up. He had that bulldog mentality on the mound that was fun to watch.

http://www.metsblog.com/2009/07/10/qa-metsblog-and-brad-holt-thole-on-mets-weekly/

[Frayed Knot]

Holt takes the number 5 slot in this week's 'Prospect Hot Sheet' at BA


No. 5 BRAD HOLT, RHP -- METS -- Team: Double-A Binghamton (Eastern) -- Age: 22

Why He's Here: 1-0, 0.00, 7 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 7 SO, 2 GIDP

The Scoop: The 6-foot-4 righthander from UNC Wilmington closed out the first half with a nifty 80-to-22 strikeout-to-walk ratio, as well as the performance you see above. One start prior, Holt recorded 10 strikeouts, one walk and three hits allowed in five innings. He surrendered three runs in that effort, but he can be forgiven, seeing as he missed three weeks in June nursing a twisted ankle. According to Mets vice president of player development Tony Bernazard, the ankle no longer is an issue for Holt, the 33rd overall pick last year. His primary developmental goal for the second half: finding consistency with his changeup and curveball.

[Mex17]

So I take it that Holt is working out of minor league camp right now?

[smg58]

I've been wondering where he's been. If any pitching prospect was to be given a shot for this year's pen, it should have been him -- at least if he was healthy.

[Edgy MD]

Wasn't invited to camp.

[Guest Rockin' Doc]

Edgy DC wrote: Wasn't invited to camp.

I blame myself. I have neglected my parental duties of late. I believe that Holt has a big league fastball, but needs a reliable secondary pitch. Hopefully, that is what he has been working on this spring.

[Frayed Knot]

Things not going well Mr. Holt. He was the third of the three first-round draft picks (#33 overall - behind Ike Davis at #17 & Reese Havens at #22) in the 2008 draft although he initially got off to the quickest pro start of the trio.
This week, however, he's on BA's 'Not-so-Hot' list:

Brad Holt, rhp, Mets -- It's gone from bad to worse for Holt at Double-A Binghamton. The 23-year-old began the season on the disabled list with a wrist injury and has worked on a strict pitch count since his return on April 24. In his three starts on the year, Holt has allowed nine runs in 4 1/3 innings (18.69 ERA) with batters going 11-for-21 (.524). The good news for Holt, such as it is: Of those 11 hits, nine of them were singles. After tearing through short-season Brooklyn and high Class A St. Lucie on his way to the Double-A, he has hit a serious wall in the Eastern League since making his debut there last June. In 14 starts for Binghamton, which he's made between trips to the DL, Holt has gone 3-8, 7.07 with a 1.85 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

[Guest Rockin' Doc]

My boy has really been struggling at Binghamton. He has made 7 starts but has only pitched 20 innings which gives one an idea of just how bad he has struggled this year. He is currently 1-4 with a 9.90 ERA. He has allowed 31 hits (only 2 home runs) and 14 walks in his 20 innings of work. He does have 17 strikeouts, but he has not handled the step up to AA very well.

He is coming off his lone good start no May 28th when he pitched 5 shutout innings of one hit baseball. Hopefully, he will use that game to get himself back on track.

[smg58]

It's a start, no pun intended. He wasn't likely to be a major-league asset this season anyway, so the short term goal is simply to right the ship.

[MFS62]

How do you know you're having a bad year?
When you give up 3 ER in 4 IP and LOWER your ERA. (Like he did last night)



Later

[Guest themetfairy]

Brad didn't impress in his performance today. He came on in relief of Maine, and gave up five runs in less than an inning.

[Guest Rockin' Doc]

There was a rumor that family services was looking into allegations of parental neglect, so I thought I had best check in with my boy Brad Holt. His progress through the system has not only come to a screeching halt, but now appears to be in reverse. After having been hammered by the opposition like a preferred batting practice pitcher, Brad was demoted from AA Binghamton to A St. Lucie. He's not having much better luck in Florida as he has surrendered 30 hits in 30 innings of work and is sporting an ERA of 6.00.

His career seems to be on the fast track to nowhere at this point. Hopefully, he can gather himself and successfully move up the ladder next season.

[Edgy MD]

His real problem wasn't he hits so much as the wildness. Crazy amount of walks and hit batsmen. Not really foreseeable in his earlier success.

He talks to Adam Rubin about it. Wouldn't you?

[Guest Rockin' Doc]

Well, Brad Holt seems to be turning it around so far in the early going this season. He is showing signs that his wild days are behind him and he is starting to settle down. One can only hope that is the case.

Holt made his third start of the season for Binghamton last night and surrendered his first runs of the young season. In his three starts for the B's, Holt has allowed only 9 hits in 18 innings. He has allowed only 1 earned run (0.50 ERA) while striking out 14 batters and has issued only 5 free passes. His BAA is a stingy .138 for the season.

A few more starts like those and my boy may be headed for the bright lights of Buffalo.

Edited April 22, 2011 by Guest

[Edgy MD]

Simultaneous resurrections from Brad Holt and Jeurys Familia seem almost too good to believe. Makes me want to see what Jonathan Holdzkom is up to.

Easter fever has avoided Eddie Kunz, however, as he's given up three runs in 4.1 innings for San Antonio.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Not only are the walks down, but he's a groundball machine (only three outs last night-- out of 18-- were flies/pops, e.g.). He's never had these kinds of groundball numbers previously... is it the new cutter doing this, or just Cadbury-Egg-induced chaos?

[Frayed Knot]

Holt gets hisself on this week's edition of BA's 'Hot List' - as #8

Team: Double-A Binghamton (Eastern)
Age: 24
Why He's Here: 0-0, 1.29, 2 GS, 13 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 11 SO, 3 BB, 19/4 G/F
The Scoop: In his third try at Double-A, Holt isn't out of the woods yet. But he's off and running after allowing two runs through three starts. He flashed good stuff last year, but a combination of injuries, mechanical issues and lack of focus produced dreadful results (3-14, 8.34, 2.00 WHIP, 7.5 walks per nine innings). Through the early going this season, Holt is throwing his pitches for strikes, getting swings and misses, inducing grounders and generally living up to his No. 3 starter potential.

[Guest Rockin' Doc]

Brad Holt's wild side has returned in his most recent starts. Opponents still can hit him, but he's issuing free passes like it's military appreciation day at Citi Field. Holt has issued 10 walks in only 7.1 innings over his last 2 starts. He has made 7 starts for Binghamton this season. He has pitched 34.1 innings while surrendering only only 25 hits for a an opponents batting average of only .189 (righties .184 & lefties .196). Unfortunately, he has now issued 20 walks against only 24 strike outs.

Brad needs to find the strike zone once again and stop surrendering so many free passes. All the base runners and I assume associated high pitch counts have kept him from going deep into games despite a ERA of 3.12 and the low opponent batting average against him. I don't know, maybe he just doesn't like Buffalo.

[Guest Rockin' Doc]

Holt has been moved out of the Binghamton rotation and has been working out of the bullpen for the past 2 weeks. He still is giving up a lot of hits (allowing only .219 BAA), but he gives up far too many walks (50 in 67 innings of work). Hopefully, the move o the bullpen will help him sort himself out and get his career back on track.

[Guest Rockin' Doc]

Not sure that the bullpen is helping Holt. He seems to be all or nothing. In his 6 appearnces since the last update he has 4 appearance in which he pitched a total of 6 innings of relief with surrendering a single hit or any runs. Unfortunately, in the other 2 outings he was lit up for 3 hits and 3 runs both times.

He is still holding opponents to a BAA .219, but 50 walks in 74 innings is limiting his effectiveness. Though his walks do seem to be reduced of late, so maybe he is turning the corner.

[Guest Rockin' Doc]

My boy is on a hot streak of late. In his last 4 bullpen outing he has pitched 6.1 scoreless innings. During that span he has 7 strikeouts and most importantly, no walks allowed. He has allowed only 2 base hits in that span. Maybe he has found his niche in the bullpen. He generally does well as long as he doesn't walk too many hitters. Control seems to be a major key for him, as I suppose it is for most pitchers.

[Guest Rockin' Doc]

Just up dating this for finality. I got busy and left poor Brad Holt on his own without proper supervision and his career flamed out. His career opened with great promise in 2008, but unfortunately he never fullfilled the his anticipated potential. Brad was blessed with one very good pitch (live fastball) which could only carry his career so far (apparently AA Binghamton) without a reliable complementary pitch. Alas, Brad never developed a second pitch to go with his fastball so he was ultimately released by the Mets in late March. No other MLB team (or minor league team for that matter) have signed the once promising pitcher to a deaso he is currently out of baseball.

My track record as an adoptive parent is quite terrible.