Yankees: Fans overreacted about Jonathan Holder’s ERA and here’s why

Jonathan Holder has been very, very good for the Yankees as of late. Except for Thursday.

Yeah, we’re not sure what’s going on either, but we’re definitely not going to complain about the New York Yankees winning games and getting lucky along this recent streak. There are so many talking points, whether it’s Luke Voit getting MVP consideration, Deivi Garcia emerging as a top arm, or Gleyber Torres getting fully back on track.

Don’t get us started on the near-poop fiasco either…

But one topic that’s flown so unbelievably far under the radar is Jonathan Holder‘s resurgence and overall success. The right-handed reliever had the lowest ERA (2.08) on the Yankees pitching staff, before an explosively bad outing on Thursday against Toronto, which boosted it to 4.08.

So, which Holder do you see when you see him coming in from the ‘pen? The one with 17 previous dominant innings, or Thursday’s near-goat?

Prior to Thursday (.1 innings pitched, 4 earned runs), the man was 3-0 with a 2.08 ERA, 1.33 WHIP and 14 strikeouts in 15 games (17.1 innings). He’s not going to get the red carpet treatment for those numbers, but for all the flak he got over the last year or so, especially after his struggles in mid-August, becoming a trusted reliever at this juncture with the playoffs approaching is commendable.

It appears, for the time being, he’s surpassed Adam Ottavino on Aaron Boone’s call sheet. And he made it on Pitching Ninja!

However, not to dampen the mood, but while Holder has managed to escape jams (admirably, mind you) against the Baltimore Orioles, it can be said that fans need to see more against better opponents. We’re by no means invalidating his success, especially as of late, but the Yankees will be facing much more potent offenses if they make the postseason.

The right-hander has allowed runs against the Rays, Red Sox, Mets, Braves and Jays this year, and until recently, has mostly been deployed in losing efforts or games in which the Bombers have a very comfortable lead. Boone has seemingly taken the next step in tossing Holder into the fire against inferior opponents to perhaps add another element to his game.

He’s on the right path. He’s mixing up his pitches well. He’s locating spots better than ever. But he’s probably not someone the Yankees can rely on at the moment to, say, protect a one-run lead with runners on against the Blue Jays next week, after already getting mashed by them once. He doesn’t exactly have a trademark put-away pitch that anyone can point to as his “it” factor. With the bases loaded on Thursday, David Cone asked whether or not he could get the changeup over for a strike. He’s not Tommy Kahnle. That pitch isn’t good enough for such a scenario.

He’s simply, though, getting the job done more often than not. We guess we’ll only find out if it happens this weekend in a redemptive opportunity.

Yankees: 3 things NYY need to prove in huge series vs Toronto

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