Were there other holy men in Shirdi before Sai Baba came back with Chand Patil?

Yes, the Shri Sai Satcharitra confirms that Shirdi was home to other saints before Sai Baba's return. The prologue of Chapter 5 explicitly states that prior to Baba's arrival in Shirdi with the Muslim wedding party of Chand Patil, the village was already a spiritual dwelling. The text mentions that a saint named Devidas had already made Shirdi his home. Furthermore, it notes that another holy person, Janakidas Gosavi, also came to live in Shirdi at a later time. This context shows that Shirdi had a spiritual atmosphere even before it became famously associated with Sai Baba.