ARLINGTON – The Yankees are changing their approach to the closer’s role, if only for the time being.
Aaron Boone made that revelation on Wednesday after Clay Holmes blew his league leading 11th save on Tuesday night. Holmes, struggling with his mechanics and his sinker, allowed a single and two walks before Rangers rookie Wyatt Langford hit a walk-off grand slam in a 7-4 Yankees loss.
“In the short term, we’re going to just get a little creative with it,” Boone said of the closer’s role. “It could be [Holmes] on given nights. In the short term, just trying to put these guys in the best position to be successful and how that shakes out, it may vary a little bit every night.”
Holmes, who has a 3.27 ERA and 29 saves over 40 tries this season, took the decision in stride.
“I said I’m ready to pitch whenever and willing to do whatever it takes to win,” the impending free agent said. “That’s kind of how I’ve always been, and that’s how I’ll continue to approach my pitching.”
Boone said that Holmes is “not that far off from being the dominant guy we know he can be,” and he believes the righty has thrown the ball well lately outside of Tuesday’s game. The manager has frequently said that Holmes, a groundball pitcher, has gotten unlucky after a lot of his blown saves this season.
But that wasn’t the case in the most recent one, and fans have been calling for Holmes’ job for some time. When asked why now was the time to stop defining Holmes as his set closer, Boone cited “the noise around it of late.”
Matt Blake did as well.
“Last night was probably the first night I thought his delivery got away from him in a while,” the pitching coach continued. “I feel like he’s been throwing the ball really well for a while. Obviously, he’s had some tough luck blown saves that some people will say, ‘A blown save’s a blown save,’ but I feel like the quality of his pitches have been sharp. Last night was probably the first night it felt like it got away from him a little bit. So down the stretch, every game really matters. We just want to make sure we’re getting the best matchups we can.”
Matchups are how the Yankees will determine who pitches when at the end of games for the time being. In addition to Holmes, Blake said that Tommy Kahnle, Luke Weaver and even Tim Hill could handle the ninth, depending on the opposition. Jake Cousins is another possibility.
“As long as they know the general areas of the game they’re going to be pitching in, they can kind of mentally and physically prepare for those,” Blake said.
Boone added that a starter will likely move to the backend of the bullpen before the season ends. With Luis Gil and Clarke Schmidt rejoining the rotation this weekend, the Yankees will have six healthy starters barring any new injuries.
Schmidt has bullpen experience and Gil’s electric stuff has led some to wonder if he’s better suited in relief. However, the Yankees will have Nestor Cortes piggyback for one of the two this weekend before the team uses a six-man rotation for one turn.
Cortes also has bullpen experience.
“Hopefully, it’s something that declares itself here over the next 10 days, two weeks,” Boone said of moving a starter to the pen. “We’ll try and make the best decision to put us in the best position possible as a team.”
In the Yankees’ ideal world, Holmes will adjust and reestablish himself as the team’s closer before the playoffs begin. However, the Yankees aren’t ruling out someone else earning the gig, which is exactly what Holmes did when Aroldis Chapman struggled in 2022.
“Chappy kind of stumbled a little bit, and he took hold of it,” Blake noted. “Obviously, it was earlier in the season that it happened, but I think [we’re] just gonna take it night by night and see where we end up at the end of games. Obviously, you’ve got four or five guys that you probably trust late in games right now that you’re just gonna sort out as we go, but it’s hard to say exactly who ends up taking that ball.”
For what it’s worth, Holmes is not putting too much stock in defined roles. He just wants to help the Yankees with the stretch run underway.
“At this point in the season and where the playoff race is, it’s about winning. I think everybody’s on that same page,” he said. “I think roles and definitions at this point are what they are. I mean, it’s just a role.”
That said, Holmes was quick to say that his confidence hasn’t been shaken. He still believes he can save games, a sentiment the Yankees have expressed for months.
“I haven’t been perfect,” he said. “That hasn’t stopped me from thinking I can get the job done. And I think that I’m really a good pitcher. And I think this is kind of where we’re at. Whatever it takes for us to win. Whatever role that is, whatever that looks like, I think we’re all here for it.”
