Aaron Judge's Clay Holmes comments show he could've influenced Yankees' deadline

The New York Yankees have surprisingly recovered from a month and a half of hardcore regression, taking five of six games on the road in Boston and Philadelphia, just at the point their season was threatening to fully careen off the rails.

One Yankee who has yet to shake off his summer slumber, though, is Clay Holmes.

In April, he was spotless, walking a single batter and not allowing an earned run in 13 1/3 innings. But once his ERA was finally dinged up in mid-May, he became addicted to being beaten by ground ball contact, both soft and hard. His 5.59 ERA in June was scuffed up by constant balls in play, and he's now 22-for-30 in save situations. He blew one (with inherited runners on) in the opener at Fenway, then wild pitched another game-tying runner home in an eventual Yankee win on Tuesday at Citizens Bank Park.

And yet, when the trade deadline dust settled, Holmes wasn't displaced as closer. He wasn't threatened, either. The Padres and Phillies paid high prices for Tanner Scott and Carlos Estévez, and the Yankees shopped for bounce-back candidate Mark Leiter (who seems like a great setup man) and struggling flamethrower Enyel De Los Santos. Brian Cashman, who didn't "match up" with the Tigers for Jack Flaherty, seemed to stray away from the mainstream in the relief market, too. On that front, he seemed to be aligned with Yankees captain Aaron Judge, who backed Holmes forcefully this week after the Philadelphia implosion.

We already know Judge wields outsized influence, both in the Yankees' locker room and in terms of personnel decisions (he agitated for Alex Verdugo, after all).

There's no way he put the kibosh on a potential acquisition of a closer to replace Holmes, but if Cashman asked for his opinion on paying market price for, say, Estévez, he certainly would've given his honest opinion. And it's easy to believe that his honest opinion is exactly what he forcefully stated to the media after Holmes' blown save on Tuesday: Doesn't matter, he's our guy.

Yankees' Aaron Judge defends Clay Holmes, who is the team's closer. Forever?

The Yankees would be a lot worse if the fans made every roster decision, and for all the external whining and complaining about something imperceptible being "rotten in the locker room," it's nice to see a clubhouse leader publicly back his embattled teammate.

But ... still, Holmes hasn't looked like the closer for a playoff-caliber team in months. Closers don't typically invite constant contact in front of a less-than-secure defensive infield. Gleyber Torres remains a mystery in big moments. The team's third baseman just started playing third base within the past week. Holmes is a better pitcher than he's been at his recent worst, but in a one-run game, you need whiffs. You don't need lottery tickets.

Judge's endorsement probably meant the world to Holmes, but it could mean a world of hurt for the Yankees if it filtered to and influenced Brian Cashman.