Ken Sugiura: Grant Holmes' journey to Braves hard to believe, even for him

ATLANTA — When he made his major league debut Sunday after 10 years in the minors, Grant Holmes called on an unlikely ally — the brim of his cap.

Pitching before a crowd of 40,211 at Truist Park, Holmes had no interest in taking in the full panorama of the stadium.

Too dangerous to the mission.

Holmes kept his eye level on the field and not much higher than the lower grandstands.

“Honestly, I tried not to go above the second (deck),” Holmes told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Tuesday. “I tried to keep my hat down and just stay focused. I didn’t want the opportunity to get the best of me. I just tried to stay focused and throw as many strikes as possible.”

After he had waited a decade for his dream to materialize, it was a smart play. And not only smart, but effective. Holmes was the story of the game for the Braves, overpowering the Tampa Bay Rays in three scoreless innings to give his team a chance in what would turn out to be an 8-6 loss.

He followed it Wednesday by mowing through the Detroit Tigers with a nine-pitch ninth inning to complete the Braves’ 7-0 win at Truist Park.

After his first four innings as a major leaguer, he hasn’t given up a walk and has yet to allow a base runner to reach second base.

Go figure.

It happens every so often — a player makes the majors after years of persevering and dreaming in the minors. That’s heartwarming enough. But it’s less frequent that that player grew up cheering for the team he’s now playing for, makes his debut on Father’s Day with his family (including his dad) in the crowd and then performs like he’s been doing this for years. And then, for good measure, he has a hairstyle worthy of an 1980s heavy-metal band.

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