Clay Holmes is the New York Yankees Secret Weapon

On July 26th, 2021, the Pittsburgh Pirates traded Clay Holmes to the New York Yankees for Diego Castillo and Hoy Park—two guys who are currently minor leaguers in other organizations like, one bad week away from applying for CDLs.

The trade didn’t lead off Sportscenter with Scott Van Pelt that night. Clay’s face wasn’t on the cover of the New York Post.

He was a 28-year-old who pitched a bunch of meaningless games in Pittsburgh. Clay Holmes came to eat some innings while other guys inevitably had to take a week off after testing positive for COVID.

2019-2021 was hell.

A lot of people died.

A lot of people made the worst Facebook posts about how wearing a mask was slavery or whatever.

Since arriving in the Bronx in 2021, Clay Holmes has the third-lowest ERA among all Major League relievers.

He was an All-Star in 2022.

He has consistently been one of the best closers in the game and this year, it looks like Clay is about to have his 2013 Matthew McConaughey season¹.

“Clay Holmes won’t get more than two saves this year” 🤡 pic.twitter.com/CRnom0nmyO

— nyyplswin (@nyyplswin) March 31, 2024

The New York Yankees have started the 2024 MLB season 6-1 and Clay Holmes deserves far more credit for dominating at the ends of these games. Juan Soto and Gleyber Torres are treating opposing pitchers the same way my dog treats her doggie bed (she fucks it) but Holmes is the unsung hero of the year so far.

Here’s what Clay Holmes has done in the first week of the 2024 MLB season:

4 games
1-0 win-loss record
0.00 ERA
3 saves
0 walks

Clay Holmes is tied for the Major League lead in saves.

So why doesn’t Clay Holmes get the credit he deserves?

It doesn’t help to follow the greatest closer of all time, Mariano Rivera. You have to win championships if you want to be considered in the same sentence as the GOAT. The Yankees didn’t even make the playoffs last year. Getting love is tough when you aren’t playing in high-stakes games.

But there’s more to it than that. Aroldis Chapman made 3 All-Star teams in New York.

Chapman was strangling his wife and had her fearing for her life and has faced zero (0) difficulties finding work and being treated like one of the best amongst his peers.

Shit, my guy was groping his own mother on Instagram and we all kind of assume he is the first case of CTE in baseball.

Aroldis can throw 103 mph and Clay can’t. It’s that simple.

As baseball becomes more and more niche and there are fewer and fewer outlets discussing the game at a high level, it’s tough to just be a steady hand and get national credit. You need to throw pitches that break the sound barrier or have a unique strikeout celebration or like, throw a pitch at Vladimir Guerrero Jr and start a benches-clearing brawl in Toronto.

Otherwise, no one gives a shit about the pitcher who has 1 strikeout this season.

“He’s really good at creating double plays”. BORING.

At age 31, I’d like to imagine Clay is mentally and emotionally ready for the responsibility the team has placed on his feet this season. The Yankees have one year with Juan Soto. If they win, cool. Everyone gets paid and they run it back.

But if they lose, there will be a lottttt of new faces in pinstripes.

The team will only be as successful as Clay Holmes allows them to be and I think he’s ready to do the damn thing.

Is Clay Holmes the most underrated player on the Yankees? Leave a comment below. Respond on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram. Or shoot me an email at Deadseriousmailbag@gmail.com. Let’s chat, bay-beeeee. Let me know if you think Clay Holmes can keep this going all season long.