It took two weeks for Yankees, Matt Blake to change Clay Holmes' sinker

After months of beating around the bush (and getting beaten by bush-league grounder after grounder), the Yankees finally chose to "get creative" with the closer role somewhere between Clay Holmes leaving the mound after Wyatt Langford's walk-off granny and reaching the dugout.

In the two-plus weeks immediately following that admission, it's not like Holmes has been eased out of the bullpen mix. The Yankees held him out of two straight save situations at Wrigley Field the following weekend, bestowing them upon Luke Weaver and Nestor Cortes Jr. to great success. He did pitch in the third game of that series, though, followed by five more close ones in its wake.

He's allowed two runs in 5 1/3 innings total since that breaking point, which shouldn't be lauded as some grand triumph. After all, that's only because he was bailed out by Luke Weaver Sunday in Oakland. Still, it seems like Matt Blake and the Yankees have made tangible progress on Holmes' sinker. At the very least, they're setting him up to potentially succeed. Now, the ball's in his court (and he's fumbled it a few times thus far).

An excessively hittable pitch in 2024, Holmes still manages to throw his sinker 55.2% of the time, and batters are hitting an almost impossible sounding .341 against it. All of a sudden, though, the offering is moving far more than it was before he was absolved of the fear associated with being the last man standing. The right-hander just posted a three-outing stretch (one of which came in a tie game in extra innings against Boston) where his previously demonic sinker ran, on average, 14.8 inches arm side. In the three months beforehand, it was only averaging 13.2.

Was Tuesday, Sept. 3 in Dallas the most positively impactful blown Yankees save of all time?

New York Yankees ex-closer Clay Holmes is back to doing demon things with sinker

Does this mean Holmes will be remarkably effective every time he toes the rubber now? Of course not. Does it mean he should once again be trusted in save situations? Aaron Judge might prefer that option, but no; he blew a one-run lead in the seventh inning (efficiently) against Kansas City last week, awarding the righty with his 12th blown save of the season in ironic fashion. He hung a pitch Jarren Duran missed on Thursday night; otherwise, his comeback parade would've been derailed. He then gagged again in Seattle in the Yankees' eventual postseason clincher, bringing to mind a trivia question: Which non-closer has blown the most saves in a three-week stretch?

But if the Yankees are going to make October noise, they're going to have to go to Holmes in a few tight squeezes. Look at how often they've already used him in close contests since his demotion: extras against the Red Sox, the late innings against KC, a tie game in Chicago. Extra innings, especially without the ghost runner, can drone on and on. If the Yankees are lucky enough to advance in the postseason, they're going to need to go deep into their well of reliable arms.

And if Holmes continues to emphasize his breaking ball AND work off a suddenly devious sinker? They just might have the horses after all. Long road to go, though.