Former top prospect with ten years of minor league experience is called up by the Braves.

There are countless ways to become a Major League Baseball player. The Atlanta Braves also called up a prospect whose career trajectory has been anything but straight-line on Sunday.

With the 22nd overall choice in the 2014 MLB Draft, the Los Angeles Dodgers selected Grant Holmes, a right-handed pitcher from South Carolina with a fiery streak. In 2016 he was dealt to the Oakland Athletics, and in 2022 he was released. It’s evident, though, that he never gave up on his big league dreams.

After pitching 735.1 minor league innings and nearly ten full years after being selected, 28-year-old Holmes finally received a call-up. In exchange for sending Ray Kerr to Gwinnett, the Braves picked him for the first time in his career to be included on the main league roster.

Holmes was released by the Oakland Athletics and joined the Braves organization in 2022. Over the previous two seasons, he has tossed 102 innings with the Triple-A Gwinnett Stripers, recording 125 strikeouts while maintaining a 3.18 ERA.

From 2015 to 2017, Holmes was listed on MLB Pipeline’s Top 100 Prospects list three times in a row. However, after posting a 4.48 ERA in Double-A Midland in 2017, he was removed from the list. Despite dealing with shoulder ailments during his minor league career, he seems healthy and primed for 2024, when he will make his big league debut.

Though there is some indication that the Braves plan to deploy Holmes as a reliever, it remains unclear which role Holmes will play. Holmes is replacing Kerr on the roster, who has made just two starts in his ten appearances this season despite having made 18 appearances out of the bullpen with just three starts.