Clay Holmes Becomes Unlikely New York Yankees’ Relief Ace

Clay Holmes chuckled at the question.

The New York Yankees right-hander was asked: How have you become the best relief pitcher in the major leagues?

“I don’t know about that,” he said with a smile.

However, Yankees manager Aaron Boone isn’t so shy about the subject.

“I mean, I think Clay has been the best reliever in the league, the best closer in the league to this point,” Boone said.

A strong argument can be made for Holmes. The 29-year-old has a 4-0 record, 15 saves in 16 opportunities and a microscopic 0.49 ERA in 36 games on the strength of an MLB-best 82% groundball rate.

Holmes has also supplanted Aroldis Chapman as the closer for the Yankees, who have the best record in the big leagues at 59-23 and lead the American League East by a commanding 14 games over the Boston Red Sox and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Holmes is a bargain as he is making just $1.1 million in his first year of salary arbitration eligibility. Chapman, who has been beset by injuries and inconsistency, has a $16-million salary in the final season of his three-year, $48-million contract.

It shows even a big-budget team like the Yankees can find good players in baseball’s bargain bins.

When the Yankees traded with the Pittsburgh Pirates for Holmes last July 26, the news barely created a ripple. New York gave up was minor league infielders Diego Castillo and Hoy Park.

Holmes compiled a 5.57 ERA over four seasons with the Pirates in which he made 87 relief appearances and four starts. However, Yankees scouts were impressed with Holmes’ sinker and felt the pitch could potentially made him a dominant reliever.

Yankees pitching coach Matt Blake helped Holmes refine the sinker, primarily changing his arm angle. Now, Holmes relieves almost exclusively on the sinker as he has thrown it 81% of the time this season.

“There were a lot of things going right when I was (in Pittsburgh) and I think I figured some things out at the right time once I got to New York,” Holmes said. “Things are slowly starting to come together and I’m starting to figure out how good my sinker can be, how I can be a little more deceptive with it and make it harder for the hitters to pick up.”

“I think the trade and the change of scenery gave me a little extra confidence, maybe a little extra belief in what I was doing. I started throwing a lot more strikes. I knew when I was (in Pittsburgh) if I cut down the walks that things would probably be a lot better, and it started happening in New York.

“Pounding the (strike) zone with the sinker and getting ahead in the count have been the key to success for me.”

The Pirates had high hopes when they selected Holmes in the ninth round of the first-year player draft in 2011 following his senior year at Slocumb (Ala.) High School.

Many scouts felt Holmes had the talent to be drafted much earlier. However, most teams believed they would be unable to convince Holmes, who was the valedictorian of his high school class, to forego a scholarship to Auburn.

The Pirates, though, got Holmes to agree to a contract with a $1-million salary bonus.

It took Holmes seven years to reach the big leagues and he had Tommy John reconstructive elbow surgery in 2014. Two years after making his major league debut in 2018, Holmes was dropped from the 40-man roster and cleared waivers when none of the other 29 MLB teams made a claim.

Yankees ace pitcher Gerrit Cole has watched Holmes’ journey closely. Cole was also part of the Pirates’ 2011 draft class, being selected first overall following a stellar career at UCLA.

Cole and Holmes were roommates at the Pirates’ Florida Instructional League camp in Bradenton following the 2011 season. Now they are teammates again 11 years later with the best team in baseball.

“It’s been pretty special. I honestly don’t think he’s getting enough credit,” Cole said. “He’s really worked hard at his craft. And, certainly, the numbers and the market that we’re in puts a spotlight on his performance right now, but just him progressing since the first time we shared a room together at Pirate City was a lot of perseverance.

“The transition isn’t easy to another club when you’ve done it in one place for so long. Adjusting to New York can be tough for some people, as we’ve seen. It’s tough for guys who really have success right away. It’s just different. It’s a big city. It takes 45 minutes to get to the park. Things are just different.

“I was super proud of how he’s gone about it. I think he’s obviously got a lot of aptitude. Smart guy. He’s taken this run of health he’s had since the surgery and refined his pitches to the next level. There’s a lot of work going into there, both physically and mentally to be performing just the way he is. It’s awesome to watch.”