Yankees Announce ‘Closer-By-Committee’ System, Relieving Clay Holmes After 11 Blown Saves

Yankees relief pitcher Clay Holmes blew his 11th save of the season Tuesday night, ripping away the New York coaching staff’s final shred of patience. The team announces that it will now enforce a “closer-by-committee” system, in which the team will turn to a number of arms out of the bullpen in save opportunities.

“In the short term, we’ll kind of just get a little creative with it,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said after another loss to the Rangers Wednesday. “I feel like [Holmes is] throwing the ball really well in a lot of ways. Last night it was certainly a little off and they got to him. But the reality is he’s really not that far off from being the dominant guy we know he can be.”

After earning the closer role in the Bronx after several promising seasons, Holmes has been disastrously bad in 2024, consistently proving ineffective in close games. The Yankees have had a number of problems in recent months, from injuries to an occasionally stagnant offense, but Holmes has been a pain throughout. Tuesday night was the final straw.

Leading 4-3 in the bottom of the ninth inning, Holmes entered and quickly got the first out on a ground ball from Travis Jankowski. It was the last out he earned. Holmes allowed a single followed by back-to-back walks, and rookie Wyatt Langford ended it with a devastating walk-off grand slam to give the Rangers the 7-4 victory.

“I feel like I’ve thrown the ball pretty well overall, [but there’s] definitely some spots that I can learn from and have taken with me,” Holmes said after the game.

The Yankees lost again 10-6 on Wednesday, and the bullpen allowed another five runs after starter Marcus Stroman exited early after allowing five runs of his own.

When Boone refers to getting “creative” in temporarily lightening Holmes’ load, it is unclear who he is considering as alternative options at this time. Jake Cousins, Tim Hill and Luke Weaver have all been at least somewhat steady in set-up roles this season. Starting pitchers Luis Gil and Clarke Schmidt could also move to the bullpen as they try to come back from injury.

Is it safe to assume that Holmes will still get save opportunities at some point this season, though the team will likely try other options before giving him another shot. Through all their troubles this season, the Yankees are still fighting for the A.L. East division with an 80-60 record. The team’s momentum from the spring is completely gone, however, and it is imperative that the Bombers find some sort of spark with October baseball looming.

Article by Patrick Moquin