Connect with us

Published

on

The New York Yankees‘ bullpen, after posting the lowest ERA in the majors in 2023, is a very different group this season. Key players departed over the winter, replaced by relatively obscure newcomers, while others are out early with injuries. A decline would’ve made sense.

But the Yankees’ relief corps is again among the best in the sport, with the second-highest Win Probability Added and second-best ERA in the majors. The anchor is the most prominent holdover: Clay Holmes, the only qualified reliever yet to surrender an earned run in 2024.

With the Yankees off to a 27-15 start, fueled in part by their standout bullpen, Holmes just might be the best closer in baseball.

“STUD — all capital letters there,” Yankees reliever Luke Weaver said.

Holmes, in his second full season as New York’s closer, has registered 21 strikeouts with three walks in 17⅓ innings and leads the American League with 12 saves. And ask anybody in the Yankees’ clubhouse: Holmes’ performance in Baltimore earlier this month is still a talker.

The Yankees, six outs from victory, were nursing a 2-0 lead after falling to the Orioles in the first two games of the four-game series. A third straight loss to their chief competition for the American League East would be as backbreaking as it gets on May 1. The first two Orioles reached base in the bottom of the frame. Moments later, with one out and the top of the Orioles’ order looming, Yankees manager Aaron Boone summoned Holmes for a five-out save. What followed was an electric, eye-popping performance.

Holmes struck out Gunnar Henderson, named the American League Player of the Month two days later, with a pair of sharp sliders and a 97 mph sinker. He then whiffed Adley Rutschman, the Orioles’ All-Star catcher, on two hard sinkers over the plate, followed by a slider that nearly dropped Rutschman to a knee. Crisis averted. Holmes then kept the middle of the Orioles’ explosive lineup scoreless in the ninth to secure the victory.

“That’s about as nasty as it gets,” Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said after watching the display. “When you’re throwing 97 mph bowling balls with a slider, it’s going to be tough to score against.”

Veteran catcher Jose Trevino was around for Holmes’ All-Star season in 2022. He has caught some of Holmes’ most dominant outings. But that was the best he has ever seen from the closer.

“And I told him that,” Trevino said.

Now in his fourth season with the Yankees, Holmes has the second-highest ERA+ ever for a Yankees reliever with at least 160 appearances — behind only Mariano Rivera. He was an All-Star in 2022, snatching the closer job from Aroldis Chapman midseason. He was effective again in 2023, his first full season in the role, with a 152 ERA+ in 66 appearances.

But he has been even better in 2024. And with Holmes starring at the back end, the Yankees’ bullpen boasts a 2.69 ERA, trailing only the Cleveland Guardians, even after a near meltdown Sunday against the Tampa Bay Rays. All this despite the significant year-over-year turnover.

Michael King, the Yankees’ shutdown multi-inning weapon last season, was traded as part of the package for Juan Soto. Wandy Peralta, their best left-hander in 2023, is also in San Diego, after signing a four-year deal with the Padres in free agency. The hard-throwing Jonathan Loáisiga underwent season-ending elbow surgery after three appearances last month. Tommy Kahnle, currently on a minor league rehab assignment, has yet to throw a pitch in the majors this year.

The Yankees acquired left-handers Caleb Ferguson and Victor González from the Dodgers during the offseason. They signed Dennis Santana, on his fourth team in four years, to a minor league deal. They converted Weaver, a 30-year-old former first-round pick, from starter to reliever.

Ian Hamilton, one of the few relievers from 2023 still on the roster, had allowed eight earned runs in 15 appearances over three seasons when he signed with the Yankees before the start of last season. The 28-year-old right-hander was a revelation, recording a 2.64 ERA with 69 strikeouts in 39 games.

“There’s a lot of reassurance, of showing what we do can get people out all the time,” Hamilton said of the Yankees’ coaching staff. “It sounds ridiculous, but then [there’s] the Yankee Effect. When you’re in the bullpen here, you just want to perform, and you want to show off for the Yankees. It doesn’t make it easy, but that motivation is like always here. There’s always that drive.”

Boone credited the Yankees’ front office for its ability to identify undervalued arms and maximize their abilities. The expertise has produced bullpens that have finished in the top five in ERA over the past three seasons. Nobody embodies the organization’s knack for bullpen construction better than Holmes.

The Yankees acquired the 6-foot-5 right-hander from the Pittsburgh Pirates in July 2021 for infielders Diego Castillo and Hoy Park. Holmes had a 4.93 ERA in 42 innings that season at the time of the trade. He owned a 5.57 career ERA over parts of four seasons. Nothing indicated dominance was around the corner.

“We feel like he’s going to be a guy that is already very tough on righties,” Boone said at the time, “but we feel like he has the stuff and the repertoire to go to another place.”

The Yankees had Holmes ditch his curveball for a sweeper to complement his sinker and gyro slider. The sweeper, a slider with a bigger break, plays better against right-handed hitters. The gyro slider, a harder offering, is more effective against lefties. He allowed just five runs in 25 outings to close the regular season.

Three years later, Holmes has yet to give up a hit on either of his sliders while posting the second-highest ground ball rate (71.1%) among qualified relievers behind a devastating sinker averaging 96.3 mph. He has a 61.5% whiff rate on the 34 sweepers he has thrown — all to righties — with six strikeouts. His gyro slider ranks as the best slider in the majors, according to the stat Run Value/100 Pitches.

“A lot of it for me is nailing my direction,” Holmes said. “I’m able to just move down the mound faster and I just think it helps my body move a little better. Just kind of knowing my lanes, the direction I need to get going. It’s a product of me just moving down the mound better. It frees up my arm. The stuff moves from that.”

Holmes’ only blemish so far this season came after shortstop Anthony Volpe‘s error on a routine play led to three unearned runs in the 10th inning of a win over the Arizona Diamondbacks on April 3. On Friday, the Rays nearly ended his scoreless innings streak, but he escaped a bases-loaded jam with his third strikeout of the inning, closing out a 2-0 win and keeping his 0.00 ERA.

“Clay’s pretty much the same person every day: Calm,” Hamilton said. “He’s ready to get put in the game pretty much any day. However many times it takes.”

Continue Reading

Sports

Follow live: Kings look to take 3-0 series lead vs. Oilers

Published

on

By

null

Continue Reading

Sports

Hagel suspended for Game 3 due to hit on Barkov

Published

on

By

Hagel suspended for Game 3 due to hit on Barkov

Tampa Bay Lightning winger Brandon Hagel was suspended one game by the NHL Department of Player Safety on Friday night for what it labeled “an extremely forceful body check to an unsuspecting opponent” that injured Florida Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov.

Hagel will miss Saturday’s Game 3 in Sunrise, Florida. The Panthers lead the series 2-0.

Around midway through the third period of Thursday’s Game 2, Tampa Bay was on the power play while trailing 1-0. Barkov pressured defenseman Ryan McDonagh deep in the Lightning zone. With the puck clearly past Barkov, Hagel lined him up for a huge hit that sent the Panthers captain to the ice and thumping off the end boards.

A penalty was whistled, and the officials conferred before calling a “five-minute penalty.” After review, Hagel was given a 5-minute major for interference. Barkov left the game with 10:09 remaining in regulation and did not return to the Panthers’ 2-0 win.

Lightning coach Jon Cooper said after the game that he didn’t expect Hagel to receive a major penalty for the hit.

“Refs make the call. I was a little surprised it was a five, but it was,” he said.

The NHL ruled that Hagel’s hit made “some head contact” on Barkov.

“It’s important to note that Barkov is never in possession of the puck on this play and is therefore not eligible to be checked in any manner,” the league said.

In the Friday hearing, held remotely, Hagel argued that he approached the play anticipating that Barkov would play the puck. But the Department of Player Safety said the onus was on Hagel to ensure that Barkov was eligible to be checked. It also determined that the hit had “sufficient force” for supplemental discipline.

It’s Hagel’s first suspension in 375 regular-season and 36 playoff games. He was fined for boarding Florida’s Eetu Luostarinen in May 2022.

The Panthers held an optional skate Friday. Coach Paul Maurice said Barkov “hasn’t been ruled out yet” but “hasn’t been cleared” for Game 3.

“He’s an irreplicable player,” Panthers defenseman Seth Jones said of Barkov. “One of the best centermen in the league. He’s super important to our team.”

The Lightning lose Hagel while they struggle to score in the series; they scored two goals in Game 1 and were shut out in Game 2. Tampa Bay was the highest-scoring team in the regular season (3.56), with Hagel contributing 35 goals and 55 assists in 82 games.

Continue Reading

Sports

Goalies Montembeault, Dobes leave Caps-Habs

Published

on

By

Goalies Montembeault, Dobes leave Caps-Habs

The Washington Capitals and Montreal Canadiens lost their starting goalies because of injuries in Game 3 of their first-round series Friday night.

Canadiens starter Sam Montembeault was replaced by rookie Jakub Dobes, who made his playoff debut, in the second period. Capitals starter Logan Thompson left late in the third period after a collision with teammate Dylan Strome.

The Canadiens won 6-3 to cut their series deficit to 2-1.

Montembeault left the crease with 8:21 remaining in the second period and the score tied 2-2. Replays showed him reaching for the back of his left leg after making a save on Capitals defenseman Alex Alexeyev. Montembeault had stopped 11 of 13 shots. For the series, he stopped 58 of 63 shots (.921 save percentage) with a 2.49 goals-against average.

Dobes, 23, was 7-4-3 in 16 games for the Canadiens in the regular season with a .909 save percentage. Dobes had a win over the Capitals on Jan. 10, stopping 15 shots in a 3-2 overtime win.

Thompson was helped from the ice by a trainer and teammates after Strome collided with him with 6:37 left in regulation right after Canadiens forward Juraj Slafkovsky made it a 5-3 Montreal lead. Thompson attempted to skate off on his own but couldn’t put weight down on his left leg.

Backup goalie Charlie Lindgren replaced Thompson, who had been outstanding for the Capitals in the first two games of the series, winning both with a .951 save percentage and a 1.47 goals-against average. He made 30 saves on 35 shots in Game 3.

Continue Reading

Trending