Yankees' Aaron Boone Still Trusts Struggling Reliever for Postseason

Yankees' manager Aaron Boone expressed confidence in his struggling reliever, despite notching his 13th blown save Wednesday.

Jun 8, 2023; Bronx, New York, USA; New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone (17) manager congratulates relief pitcher Clay Holmes (35) after defeating the Chicago White Sox 3-0 at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images / Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images

The 2024 season has been a challenging one for New York Yankees’ closer Clay Holmes, but manager Aaron Boone is not ready to give up on him just yet. 

On Wednesday night, Holmes surrendered a game-tying solo home run to Seattle Mariners' slugger Justin Turner in the eighth inning, notching his MLB-leading 13th blown save of the season. Holmes was pulled after recording just two outs, and despite the setback, the Yankees went on to win 2-1 in extra innings. Before Thursday’s series finale, Boone reinforced his confidence in the right-hander, who he said has been “snakebitten” by mistakes, adding that they still expect him to play a key role in the postseason.

“The reality is, he’s still really good,” Boone told MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch. “His stuff is really good, and he’s going to get big outs for us.” 

Holmes, 31, was among baseball’s top relievers over the season’s first two months, allowing no earned runs in his first 20 appearances. He lost his grip on the closer role after giving up a walk-off grand slam to the Texas Rangers on September 3, his 11th blown save of the year. Since then, he has surrendered two runs in five outings and has two more blown saves as the Yankees adopted a “closer-by-committee” strategy. 

On the season, Holmes is 3-5 with a 3.36 ERA, 1.32 WHIP, and a 9.9 K/9 rate over 62 appearances, converting 29 of 42 save opportunities. His 13 blown saves tie him for the most in Yankees' history with Goose Gossage (1983) and Dave Righetti (1987). He is also just one away from tying Hall of Famer Bruce Sutter’s all-time record of 14 blown saves, set in 1976. Given that saves became an official stat only in 1969, this record may warrant a slight asterisk.

While Holmes’ hard-hit percentage is much better than it has been the last two years, his primary pitch has lost its bite. According to Baseball Savant, he relies on his sinker 55% of the time, but it has posted a -7 run value in 2024, a steep drop from the +9 it recorded in 2022. On the flip side, his slider has been far more effective, holding opponents to a .133 average, compared to the .338 mark they have posted against his sinker. He throws his slider 24% of the time.

With less than two weeks left in the regular season, time is running out for the 6-foot-5 sinkerballer to reclaim sole possession of the closer role before the postseason. Nonetheless, the underlying numbers and Boone’s remarks suggest there is still a chance he can make an impact this October, even if not in high-leverage situations. Holmes is set to become a free agent at season's end.