Inside The Pinstripes

Yankees' Clay Holmes Likely Headed to Injured List With Back Tightness

Holmes spoke after Tuesday night's 3-1 loss to the Rays at Yankee Stadium, opening up about discomfort in his back.

Max Goodman

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NEW YORK — The Yankees just can't seem to catch a break right now.

After yet another uninspiring loss on Tuesday night, their 11th in 13 games since the trade deadline, closer Clay Holmes revealed that he's been dealing with an issue in his back.

"Locked up on me a few days ago, tried to throw again today and it kind of tightened back up," Holmes said at his locker. "The smartest thing, the best way to go about it, was just try to maybe give it a break. We'll see. We'll play it smart, not try to push through something that maybe could be a lot worse."

No official moves were made on Tuesday night, but manager Aaron Boone concluded his postgame presser with news that a roster move to address New York's pitching staff is imminent.

In all likelihood, Holmes will be placed on the injured list ahead of Wednesday night's series finale against the Rays.

"Hopefully this is just a short little thing and we can nip it in the bud real quick," Holmes added.

The right-hander began this season with an unprecedented stretch of dominance. Leapfrogging Aroldis Chapman to become New York's closer, Holmes didn't allow a run for 29 consecutive appearances, closing 16 games before traveling to his first All-Star Game.

Since then, however, Holmes has struggled mightily. The right-hander has a 6.35 ERA since the conclusion of his scoreless innings streak. He's allowed 11 earned runs (10.24 ERA) and blown three saves in his last 11 outings, dating back to July 12.

Holmes explained that as of now, he'll use rest and treatment to get through spasms and soreness in his back. There have been no tests done to this point either, he said.

"It's definitely frustrating," Holmes explained. "I think this is probably the smartest move and I think there's definitely gonna be another guy that can step up and I believe that whoever it is, we have full trust and we'll be playing our best baseball when we need to." 

If Holmes does land on the injured list, New York can promote reliever Ron Marinaccio who has been relegated to Triple-A recently. Marinaccio should've been in the big leagues this entire time. He had allowed one run over 22.2 innings before he was sent down on August 6.

Holmes would also join Giancarlo Stanton (Achilles), Luis Severino (lat strain), Harrison Bader (plantar fasciitis), Matt Carpenter (fractured foot) and more on the IL.

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Max Goodman
MAX GOODMAN

Max Goodman covers the New York Yankees for Sports Illustrated and FanNation. Goodman has been on the Yankees beat for three seasons. He is also the publisher of Sports Illustrated and FanNation's Jets site, Jets Country. Before starting Inside The Pinstripes, Goodman attended Northwestern University and the Medill School of Journalism. He earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Broadcast Journalism and Master’s Degree in Sports Media, graduating in 2019. At school, Goodman was an anchor and reporter with NNN SportsNight and played on the club baseball team. While at Northwestern, Goodman interned with MLB.com as an associate reporter covering the Miami Marlins. He also interned with ESPN, working as an associate reporter on Mike Greenberg's Get Up. Goodman is from New York City. He grew up in Hell's Kitchen. Follow Goodman on Twitter @MaxTGoodman. You can connect with him via email by reaching out at maxgoodmansports@gmail.com.

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