The Yankees’ manager, Aaron Boone, was taken aback on Friday when he saw All-Star reliever Clay Holmes throwing live batting practice in the empty Oakland Coliseum.
He enjoyed watching Holmes throw nasty sinkers for strikes and induce ground balls into the dirt from Marwin Gonzalez and Kyle Higashioka.
Holmes has been out since Aug. 17 with back spasms. Holmes looked like the dominant reliever he was in the first half of the season after a 0-2 stretch with three blown saves and a 10.80 ERA.
The first pitch, I was just like ‘that would be a problem,’ Boone said before the Yankees-Athletics’ game. I thought he was really sharp. This was just a live BP, but stuff wise, it was there. Velocity wise, it was there. Movement quality was there and he was strike throwing. If he’s doing that and throwing strikes, he’s going to be a problem to deal with.
This was Holmes’s last warm-up game. He is expected to come off the disabled list on Monday, the first day he is eligible, when the Yankees play the Los Angeles Angels in Anaheim.
I can pitch in a major league game now, Holmes said.
After a terrible August, Holmes is ready to finish the season strong. He made an adjustment to his delivery before going on the disabled list in the hopes of boosting his command, but in his last outing, a blown save in Boston on August 12, he walked two batters and allowed a hit. The score ended in a loss for the Yankees, 3-2.
Holmes felt better about his progress when Gonzalez and Higashioka couldn’t hit well during his live BP.
I threw some strikes early, said Holmes, who is 5-3 with a 2.39 ERA and 17 saves in 49 games. It was good to see them swinging. It was good to see the sinker sinking like it normally has to get some groundballs.
Holmes won’t immediately return to his closer role, despite Boone having to choose between Aroldis Chapman and him. Scott Effross, who is also on the IL, and Jonathan Loaisiga earned the Yankees‘ last two saves.
Initially, I feel like I’m just going to try and get them in the best positions to be successful, Boone said. I feel like we’ve had a number of guys, especially of late, that have shown the ability to close out a game if we’ve needed it and I’ll kind of continue to do it that way. And hopefully along the way somebody grabs that and solidifies that, but I think we’ll see that kind of play itself out over the next several weeks.
Holmes has blown his last three save opportunities and one of his last five since July 17. If he throws like he did in Friday’s live BP, he could close soon.
Well, I do absolutely feel like he can get back to that level, Boone said. He’s got special-special stuff. It’s about getting locked in again from the delivery standpoint, and it can take off just as quick as we saw all the first few months of the season. I’m optimistic about that. And I feel like he’s in a good spot now health wise, too.
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