The Holmes File
Team: New York Yankees
Height: 6-5
Weight: 245
Age: 29
Birthday: 3/27/1993
Fastball Velo: 97 mph
College: N/A
Draft: 272nd Pick, 2011
Contract: 1-year, $3.3 million
WAG: Ashlyn Holmes
Children: N/A
Record/Accomplishments
- One All-Star selection, 2022
Clay Holmes' Tale of Two Teams
By Anthony Licciardi
The story of the New York Yankees late-inning reliever Clay Holmes is two-sided: one bad organization, one good organization.
The Pittsburgh Pirates drafted Holmes with the vision of using an extensive repertoire to limit baserunners. Their plan did not fall short. Like many good things that find their way to Pittsburgh, he found himself leaving. The Pirates are one of those teams that care about profit margins over virtually everything, and it shows. The deployment of Holmes is just a recent exhibit.
Holmes was traded to the Yankees for less-than-highly-touted prospects. Under the guidance of New York pitching coach Matt Blake, his career took off. In the season before his trade, Holmes threw his sinker 31.8% of the time and his curveball 59.1% of the time, along with the occasional slider. Not exactly the five-pitch pitcher he was heralded as.
During the 2022 season, he threw his sinker 80.1% of the time, and a slider on his remaining throws. The numbers speak for themselves. With Pittsburgh, Holmes pitched to the tune of a 5.57 ERA. In his first 91.2 innings in pinstripes, he put up a mark of 2.26.
It turns out investing in your team and its players actually leads to return on investment. Maybe the Pirates could learn a thing or two.