Clay Holmes has already gone from a question mark in Pittsburgh to an All-Star in The Bronx, but his start to 2024 has been the best he’s pitched in the majors.
He entered Tuesday having not given up an earned run over 16 ¹/₃ innings in 16 appearances.
Holmes’ lone blown save in a dozen opportunities came when he entered with the free base runner in the bottom of the 10th in Arizona.
The 31-year-old doesn’t come into games at Yankee Stadium with the fanfare of his crosstown counterpart, Edwin Diaz, and has remained fairly low-profile considering his role.
And Holmes said that’s fine with him.
“I’ve always viewed it as if I do my job, most of the time, people don’t notice me,’’ Holmes said prior to the Yankees’ series opener against the Astros at the Stadium.
“I take pride in my job and want to be successful, but we have a lot of stars in here and a lot of big names,’’ Holmes said. “They can carry the team to a lot of wins. By the time I come in, the damage has been done and I look at it as putting the nail in the coffin.”
Holmes has done that especially effectively this season, and a main reason for that is a reduction in walks.
Entering Tuesday, Holmes was third in the majors among relievers who’d pitched at least 10 innings with just 0.55 walks per nine innings.
That number was 3.29 last year and 2.83 in 2022.
Limiting the free passes, Holmes said, is a product of him being more aggressive and it has benefits besides the obvious.
“It means I’m attacking the zone and when I’m in that mode, my stuff tends to play better,’’ Holmes said. “And then there’s less traffic [on the bases], so as a ground ball, sinkerball guy, a couple get through now and then and if there’s no one on base, it means I can trust my sinker a little more because the grounders do less damage.”
Not only has Holmes been dominant, in his previous two outings, the right-hander has pitched more than one inning.
Both were save opportunities and Holmes combined to pitch three innings, striking out five — and walking none.
Holmes said he was fine getting more than three outs when asked.
“Those situations come up when guys need to go a little longer,” Holmes said. “You have to balance how much you do that and for how long because you want to be your best at the end.”
And the fact that he’s cut down on the walks makes it possible for Holmes to potentially do that more frequently.
“It definitely allows you to throw multiple [innings] without getting your pitch count crazy high,’’ Holmes said. “For me, fewer walks always correlates with more success.”
And as long as his sinker stays where it is, Holmes is confident he’ll continue his current run.
“It’s never perfect and is always a work in progress, but I’m happy with where it is right now,’’ Holmes said.
He’s given up 13 hits with the sinker, for an opposing batting average of .302 — slightly higher than it was a year ago, but 12 of those have been singles, and with a a WHIP of 0.918 rivaling the 0.786 he had after he came over from the Pirates in 2021, Holmes has been as solid as he’s been in his career.
