It’s September 3 and the Yankees trying to hold on to a 5-4 lead over the Rangers in the midst of a tightly contested AL East race.

Clay Holmes had the bases loaded with just one out, but Aaron Boone opted to keep him in because the right-hander is always just one pitch away from getting a game-ending double play. Rookie sensation Wyatt Langford launched a grand slam, giving the Rangers the win and marking the end of Holmes’ time as the New York Yankees’ closer. Boone would demote him from the role and go to Luke Weaver instead in the ninth inning, a move that helped them pull away from the Orioles for the division late in the season.

No one wanted to see Clay Holmes with a lot of power, but during the American League Division Series, the Yankees turned to their controversial bullpen weapon, and he did nothing but deliver when his team needed him most.

Clay Holmes’ Dominant Playoff Series Helps Send Yankees to ALCS

Clay Holmes attacked the Royals’ scrappy lineup with sinkers galore, and they swung from their boots in an attempt to counter it. Allowing just one walk and three hits in five innings, Holmes shut down Kansas City’s lineup whenever he was brought into a game. The Yankees used him in all four games of the series, and while his 16.7% strikeout rate isn’t dominant, he generated a 57.1% groundball rate and threw a vicious sinker that challenged opposing power. neutralized.

His entire season was marred by a decline in the effectiveness of his sinker, as it went from a reliable weapon to his most hittable pitch during the regular season. The inability to put hitters away with it made it a complete liability with high leverage, even if some of the contact was bad luck. Some point to the fact that by inviting contact, Holmes had created the bad luck for himself, and while that might be true to some extent, it doesn’t change the fact that the sinker’s success is crucial to his success on the hill.

There was a sharp increase in Stuff+ on Clay Holmes’ sinker after he was removed from the closer role, with a 120 Stuff+ on the field compared to the mediocre 99 it achieved previously. Now that the field has become a buzzsaw weapon for Holmes again, the Yankees have turned to him as their primary offensive player, and he is the perfect complement to Luke Weaver, who has become their unofficial closer.

With a sharp sinker and a few vicious sliders, Holmes doesn’t throw any pitches that Weaver has in his arsenal, while hitters go from seeing a 96-98 MPH bowling ball sinker to that same velocity range with a driving fastball at the top of the stroke. The two were flawless in their October outings, as they both played in every game of the series, allowing just six runners to complete the 9.1 innings of work.

When Clay Holmes is in place, the Yankees have a dynamic bullpen duo headlined by a group of excellent arms. Ian Hamilton, Tommy Kahnle, Jake Cousins ​​​​and Tim Hill are all more than capable of getting big outs and can shorten a game for a starter in trouble. Gerrit Cole’s Game 4 performance was great, but it was the only quality start New York got in the first round of the playoffs. Their bullpen likely won’t have Luis Gil available in a four-game series as the Yankees will likely expand to a four-man rotation, but the group still has a bevy of reliable pitchers.

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Credit here also goes to Aaron Boone, who had a quick hook for his pitchers and helped stop any bleeding during the series. Once Carlos Rodon, Clarke Schmidt and even Gerrit Cole got into trouble, the Yankees didn’t hesitate to pull them, and it allowed his excellent bullpen to shine on a big stage. Furthermore, his faith in Clay Holmes has paid enormous dividends, as there’s no telling how Games 1, 3 or 4 will go had the Yankees not received scoreless frames from their former closer.

The Yankees need Clay Holmes to stay sharp if they want to go all out in the postseason, as it’s all hands on deck in this ALCS that starts Monday. It will be the Cleveland Guardians or the Detroit Tigers who head to the Bronx for Game 1, as New York has earned the opportunity to bounce back and prepare for a huge series this weekend. Since 2010, the Yankees have been to six different ALCS rounds, but that’s done lost each of them.

It’s the longest streak in Championship Series history, and the Yankees hope to achieve it and advance to the World Series for the first time since 2009.