NEW YORK — At the New York Yankees clubhouse, Clay Holmes slumped a little farther into the navy leather office chair in front of his locker. The right-handed closer had been discussing his favorite topic, which is the everyday rigors of baseball season. The shaping of his two sliders, which had been coming into shape, and his renowned sinker. His rapid rise to fame.
The topic of his future came up next. Holmes, who is usually reticent, didn’t sound as enthusiastic. No, with free agency approaching in the winter, the Yankees had not contacted him this offseason about a potential contract extension. Though he acknowledged that he can’t “completely ignore” it, he is making every effort to avoid thinking about it.
This week, Holmes stated, “I’m just enjoying where I’m at right now and having a lot of nice relationships here with coaches and players.” We’ll discuss what happens when the time comes for me to no longer be a Yankee. However, I’m going to attempt to help us win as many games as I can from where I am right now.
Holmes has so far been successful in keeping his future in the background and concentrating on the here and now.
With nine saves as of Wednesday, Holmes was one save ahead of Robert Suarez of the San Diego Padres in baseball. He had a perfect 0.00 ERA in 12 games. He was the fifth-best reliever in the majors with at least five innings pitched in terms of ground ball % (67.6). He’d given up on a single stroll. He had a huge role in the Yankees bullpen’s 2.98 ERA, which was good enough to rank sixth in the majors. In 2015, Andrew Miller was the only other pitcher for the Yankees to start a season with nine saves and no earned runs allowed.
“He’s simply incredibly good, in my opinion,” manager Aaron Boone remarked.
And very, very valuable.
Multiple high-strikeout arms have been injured, plaguing the Yankees relief corps. c (shoulder pain), Lou Trivino (Tommy John surgery), and Scott Effross (back surgery) were all listed as injured at the beginning of the season. It’s unknown when Effross might make a comeback. It looks like Trivino and Kahnle will be back in May and June. Prior to being placed on the injured list, Nick Burdi (hip irritation) made seven scoreless appearances during spring training. After undergoing elbow surgery, Jonathan Loaísiga only made three outings and is not expected to pitch this year.
The Yankees would be in a difficult situation without Holmes.
From their current group of options, it’s unclear who the Yankees would try to insert into the closer role for the next season. Loaísiga and Kahnle are free agents. The most likely candidate seems to be righty Ian Hamilton, but at 28, he has only pitched in one complete major league season.
Could Holmes get extended by the Yankees? That wouldn’t be completely impossible. He is making $6 million this season at the age of 31. Late-inning relievers have recently been signed to long-term contracts by them. Zack Britton was awarded a three-year, $39 million contract by the Yankees in 2019. Aroldis Chapman was awarded a five-year, $86 million contract in 2017; before to the 2020 season, he was granted a three-year, $48 million extension. It might be argued, though, that the Yankees lost out on each of those trades, since Chapman failed to live up to expectations as a closer and Britton required Tommy John surgery in his last season.
Nevertheless, Holmes has demonstrated that he can manage pitching in New York, and he represents the Yankees’ pitching staff’s capacity to transform a project into a gem. Fans hardly noticed when Holmes was acquired by the Yankees from the Pittsburgh Pirates on July 26, 2021, in return for two minor league players. However, Holmes has been largely excellent despite having a 5.57 ERA throughout portions of four seasons with the Pirates. Among qualifying MLB relievers, he has the sixth-highest fWAR (4.0) since the deal. At 69 percent, he had the second-best ground-ball percentage in the whole game.
“Just keeps realizing who he is,” Boone remarked.
Holmes thinks that while his go-to weapon will always be his 96 mph sinker, he has made significant progress with his sweeper and the shorter, tighter slider he refers to as a “gyro.” It appears that he is correct. Among the 62 sliders he has thrown this season, as of Wednesday, none had allowed a hit. (He had launched 118 sinkers.)
Boone stated, “He’s attacking the strike zone.” Being a sinkerballer means that he has experienced some traffic, but he is not afraid of it. He has persisted in delivering strong pitches. When you observe his appearances, he simply makes a lot of good pitches that are frequently in the strike zone.
Holmes remarked, “There are definitely certain things that could be a little better. certain pitch shapes, in my opinion, are getting better with time. on the end, though, I believe that I’m headed on the right path. I think I’m at a place where I’m willing to try everything and go out there to try to help us win. I feel like I’m in a decent place overall.
That location will be in the Yankees’ bullpen’s back for the time being. But what about next year? Perhaps looking that far forward is premature, but someone needs to fill the position, and Holmes has shown he is capable of doing it.
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