Clay Holmes Blows Another Game

By Sal Maiorana

August 19, 2024

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Sal Maiorana, a friend of the site, shares some of his thoughts on the Yankees.

For Sal's complete analysis on the New York Yankees, you can subscribe to Sal Maiorana's free Pinstripe People Newsletter at https://salmaiorana.beehiiv.com/subscribe.

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The Yankees spent a week playing two teams that they should have handled rather easily. Instead, they went 3-3 against the White Sox and Tigers, capped by yet another blown save by Clay Holmes which led to a loss to Detroit in the Little League Classic in Williamsport, Pa. For all the kids who were there, that’s not how you do it! Lets get to it.

Honestly folks, I don’t know how many more times I can write the same thing, but I will again, screaming from the top of my lungs: This team is going nowhere!!! Nowhere.

I don’t care what their record is, I don’t care that they are still somehow tied for first place in the AL East. This team is not winning a thing in October because in today’s baseball, you cannot win - I repeat, you cannot win - with a terrible bullpen and that’s what the Yankees have.

Seriously, when Clay Holmes took the mound in the bottom of the ninth in Williamsport Sunday night with just a 1-0 lead, did anyone really believe he was going to close the game out? If you did, you haven’t been watching for the last three months. As soon as he gave up the one-out double to Colt Keith I knew darn well it wasn’t going to happen. Even when he got the second out, I remained steadfast in my belief that he was still going to blow it. Naturally, I was right, so on to extra innings we went.

And then once that bum blew his 10th save of the season - more than anyone in baseball, and the first time a Yankee has blown 10 saves since Dave Righetti blew 13 in 1987 - was there any chance that the next bum Aaron Boone sent out there wouldn’t blow the game?

Of course not, because Mark Leiter Jr. is even worse than Holmes, yet another useless trade deadline acquisition by Brian Cashman. What a dumpster fire this guy is. Since he came over from the Cubs, where he was nothing more than a mediocrity, Leiter Jr. has a 6.48 ERA in 10 games and he hasn't had a single 1-2-3 inning since he joined the team.

With the automatic runner on second to start the bottom of the 10th, it took Leiter Jr. six pitches to lose the game. RBI single, stolen base, RBI single, Little League Classic over in classic Yankees bullpen meltdown fashion.

You will not be surprised to learn that Boone, of course, thought Holmes was good. Never mind that he gave up two hard-hit balls - the double to Keith and the tying RBI single to Jace Jung - which, oh yeah, blew the save. Boone is nothing if not consistent in his delusionality (not a word, but it works for me here).

“Clay was fine,” Boone said. “The double the other way, probably the one flat sinker he threw where it was up and out over the plate and he just rode it the other way. Other than that I thought he was pretty sharp. The sinker was good, the slider was good, but that one that set them up by Keith and gave them an opportunity and then a good at bat there by Jung to find a hole.”

I can’t take it with this guy any longer.

At least he wasn’t quite as tone deaf regarding Leiter: “Just not real sharp, fell behind, base hit up the middle, probably a fastball too much on the plate, both of them there, so we got to get him a little sharper.”

Pressed further about his trash closer, Boone once again refused to acknowledge the problem we all see. “Look, we’ll see as we go,” he said. “We have a lot of really good options. Clay has had some tough breaks back there that’s led to (blown saves) ... The reality is he’s throwing the ball really well. That said, we’ve got a lot of guys that are throwing the ball well in certain situations. Right now, Clay is the guy.”

“Clay is the guy” because Cashman crashed and burned yet again at the trade deadline and rather than get an actual closer, he gave us Leiter and Enyel De Los Santos who was so bad that he has already been cut. You’ll love this - guess which was the only team willing to sign De Los Santos? The White Sox who are one of the worst teams in the history of the sport. Happy trails, pal.

Thus, thanks to Cashman not addressing the biggest problem on the team, and the fact that despite what Boone says, there are really no good options in this bullpen at the end of games, the Yankees cannot win in October.

Oh, and if you’re banking on the offense overcoming the frightful bullpen, is that realistic come October?

The Yankees just went 15-for-95 in this series (.157), scored a measly five runs, and were 2-for-18 with runners in scoring position. Against the Detroit Tigers. They were 2-for-20 with runners in scoring position in the first two games against the White Sox. Do that in a playoff series - which they have done in several Octobers during the Boone era - and your season is over.

The Yankees are going to have to win close, low-scoring games in the playoffs, that’s just how it is, and it simply won’t be possible if Holmes and Leiter are going to pitch the high leverage innings.

Game notes and observations:

➤ Skubal wasn’t great, but he was still plenty good enough to shut down the Yankees across his six innings. His only wobble came in the sixth inning when he had an uncharacteristic command issue. He started it by walking Torres and Juan Soto, then got Judge to hit into a double play with Torres moving to third. However, Skubal threw a wild pitch which allowed Torres to score the game’s only run until Holmes...

➤ The offense was awful all weekend, and it did nothing in this game. The first run was a gift, and the only other run came in the 10th with Volpe starting at second as the automatic runner and LeMahieu drove him home with a ground single through the right side. The Yankees need Judge and Soto to produce every day and this was not their night - 1-for-7 with a walk and three whiffs, plus Judge’s big double play.

➤ Jasson Dominguez made his season debut as he was brought up from Triple-A as the 27th man. Each team was allowed to bring up an extra player because of the unusual nature of playing two games in Detroit and one in Williamsport. Boone decided to start Dominguez in left field over Alex Verdugo because he’s a switch hitter and could bat right-handed against Skubal, and the kid had a brutal game. He went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts, and his fielding gaffe allowed the winning run to score in the 10th.

➤ After Leiter gave up the tying run, McKinstry stole second, and when Meadows singled to left, the Tigers were aggressive and waved McKinstry home even though there were still no outs. Dominguez fielded the ball but double-clutched when he went to throw, and that gave him no chance. Had he fielded it cleanly, he probably would have nailed McKinstry and the game would have continued, at least until Leiter gave up another hit or two to end it.

➤ There was a great stat on X about home runs this season. This was the 30th game in which the Yankees did not homer, and they’re 10-20 in those games. But here’s the thing: Every team in MLB has a losing record when they don’t hit a home run. The best team is the Giants who are 21-22 when they don’t homer. It’s just further evidence that while we still love manufacturing runs, home runs matter the most and it’s kind of indisputable.