Clay Holmes had expectations high after a strong Spring Training performance, but struggled in his official New York Mets debut against the Houston Astros.

Holmes became the seventh pitcher to start on Opening Day in his Mets debut. Roger Craig (1962), Don Cardwell (1967), Mike Hampton (2000), Tom Glavine (2003), Pedro Martinez (2005) and Johan Santana (2008) were the others. Tyrone Taylor received the start in center field over Jose Siri, but it wasn’t an easy decision for Mendoza.

If Clay Holmes' Opening Day start taught the Mets anything, it's that converting a reliever into a full-time starting pitcher is going to take a lot of work.