Clay Holmes' first foray into Mets' starting rotation suggests work-in-progress

So Clay Holmes made his first start for the Mets on Thursday and he was more meh than masterful against the Houston Astros. His sinker blipped in and out like spotty WiFi and he was generally too wild, all while he was navigating the complexities of a new job.

Indeed, Holmes’ transition from reliever to starter is still a work in progress, even after a glossy spring camp that had blue-and-orange hopes soaring. Understatement alert: Nothing in the major leagues is easy. Maybe we should’ve expected this, even in the afterglow of his camp.

Still, there were some moments for Holmes and even those stray glimmers might offer some assurance that Holmes-to-the-rotation, one of the biggest Met…