Clay Holmes
31-Year-Old
2024 Stats
W-L
2-5
ERA
3.27
WHIP
1.33
K
60
SV
29
Rest-of-Season Projections
2024 Fantasy Outlook
Yankees manager Aaron Boone clued us in prior to the 2023 season that Holmes would be used in high-leverage spots before the ninth inning. That's exactly how he was deployed in the first-half, often having his number called during the 7th and 8th innings. However, 26 of his 28 outings after the All-Star break came in the 9th inning or later. He finished with a career-high 24 of the Yankees' 44 saves for a 54.5% team save share, which was an improvement over 2022. Holmes also posted a career-best 27.1% strikeout rate to go along with an elite 2.4% barrel rate (99th percentile) and 66.7% groundball percentage (100th percentile). The right-hander threw fewer sinkers (69.2% pitch usage) in favor of more breaking pitches, with his slider and sweeper both generating 40-plus percent whiff rates. With Boone returning as manager in 2024, expect similar usage for Holmes, who has established himself as a high-leverage mainstay for New York. Read Past Outlooks
Fewer save chances coming
Yankees manager Aaron Boone said Wednesday the team will get "creative" with the closer role going forward, which could still include Holmes depending on matchups, Jack Curry of YES Network reports.
ANALYSIS
Boone avoided explicitly saying that Holmes has been demoted from the closer role, but that's the clear indication even if the right-hander is still somewhat involved. The 31-year-old surrendered a grand slam Tuesday against Texas as he blew his league-leading 11th save of the season, which finally prompted the Yankees to change their approach. Holmes has been fairly effective overall with a 3.27 ERA across 55 innings, but he's allowed a lot of traffic with a 1.33 WHIP and 3.1 BB/9. Boone didn't name any alternative relievers, but Mark Leiter, Luke Weaver and Tommy Kahnle could all be in the mix for saves.
Boone avoided explicitly saying that Holmes has been demoted from the closer role, but that's the clear indication even if the right-hander is still somewhat involved. The 31-year-old surrendered a grand slam Tuesday against Texas as he blew his league-leading 11th save of the season, which finally prompted the Yankees to change their approach. Holmes has been fairly effective overall with a 3.27 ERA across 55 innings, but he's allowed a lot of traffic with a 1.33 WHIP and 3.1 BB/9. Boone didn't name any alternative relievers, but Mark Leiter, Luke Weaver and Tommy Kahnle could all be in the mix for saves.
Pitching Stats
Loading Pitching Stats...
2024
2023
2022
2021
2020
2019
2018
Minor League Game Log
Calculate Stats Over Time
Just click on any two dates.
Loading Minor League Pitching Game Log...
Pitching Appearances Breakdown
Average Pitch Count
17
Last 10 Games
20
Last 5 Games
18
How many pitches does Clay Holmes generally throw?
1-10
11-20
21-30
31-40
41-50
51-60
61-70
71-80
81-90
91-100
101-110
111-120
121+
What part of the game does Clay Holmes generally pitch?
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
6th
7th
8th
9th
Extra
% Games Reaching Innings Threshold
% Games By Number of Innings Pitched
Left/Right Pitching Splits
Since 2022
-13%
BAA vs RHP
2024
-11%
BAA vs RHP
BAA | K | BB | H | HR | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Since 2022vs Left | .239 | 69 | 35 | 72 | 4 | |||
Since 2022vs Right | .207 | 127 | 27 | 78 | 3 | |||
2024vs Left | .266 | 23 | 11 | 29 | 2 | |||
2024vs Right | .238 | 37 | 8 | 25 | 1 | |||
2023vs Left | .200 | 26 | 12 | 20 | 1 | |||
2023vs Right | .231 | 45 | 11 | 31 | 1 | |||
2022vs Left | .250 | 20 | 12 | 23 | 1 | |||
2022vs Right | .159 | 45 | 8 | 22 | 1 | |||
More Splits→ | View More Split Stats |
Home/Away Pitching Splits
Since 2022
-13%
ERA on Road
2024
-17%
ERA on Road
ERA | WHIP | IP | K/9 | BB/9 | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Since 2022Home | 3.07 | 1.16 | 91.0 | 10.5 | 2.7 | ||||
Since 2022Away | 2.68 | 1.17 | 90.2 | 8.9 | 3.5 | ||||
2024Home | 3.60 | 1.16 | 25.0 | 11.2 | 2.5 | ||||
2024Away | 3.00 | 1.47 | 30.0 | 8.7 | 3.6 | ||||
2023Home | 3.15 | 1.31 | 34.1 | 10.7 | 2.6 | ||||
2023Away | 2.51 | 1.01 | 28.2 | 9.4 | 4.1 | ||||
2022Home | 2.56 | 1.01 | 31.2 | 9.7 | 2.8 | ||||
2022Away | 2.53 | 1.03 | 32.0 | 8.7 | 2.8 | ||||
More Splits→ | View More Split Stats |
Stat Review
How does Clay Holmes compare to other relievers?
This section compares his stats with all relief pitcher seasons from the previous three seasons (minimum 30 innings)*. The bar represents the player's percentile rank. For example, if the bar is halfway across, then the player falls into the 50th percentile for that stat and it would be considered average.
* Exit Velocity, Barrels/BBE %, Balls Hit 95+ MPH %, and Spin Rate are benchmarked against 2019 data (min 30 IP). See here for more exit velocity/barrels stats plus an explanation of current limitations with that data set.
* Exit Velocity, Barrels/BBE %, Balls Hit 95+ MPH %, and Spin Rate are benchmarked against 2019 data (min 30 IP). See here for more exit velocity/barrels stats plus an explanation of current limitations with that data set.
K/BB
3.16K/9
9.8BB/9
3.1HR/9
0.5Fastball
96.6 mphERA
3.27WHIP
1.33BABIP
.349GB/FB
3.78Left On Base
66.9%Exit Velocity
81.9 mphBarrels/BBE
4.2%Spin Rate
2398 rpmBalls Hit 95+ MPH
23.8%Swinging Strike
12.7%Advanced Pitching Stats
Loading Advanced Pitching Stats...
Defensive Stats
Loading MLB Defensive Stats...
Stats Vs Today's Lineup
Want more matchup stats?
Loading Matchup Stats...
Our full team depth charts are reserved for RotoWire subscribers.
Subscribe Now
Recent RotoWire Articles Featuring Clay Holmes See More
This week's set of pickup recommendations is full of players who were called up as rosters expanded at the start of September, including Cleveland's Kyle Manzardo.
Brad Johnson takes a deep dive into the career of Japanese pitcher Roki Sasaki, who has been compared to Paul Skenes, and who might make is U.S. debut sometime in the next year.
Erik Siegrist reviews the available American League talent on waiver wires and focuses on some potential high-impact stashes, including the Yankees' Jasson Dominguez.
James Anderson shares the results of the first high-stakes fantasy baseball draft of 2025, in which he selected Gunnar Henderson fourth overall.
Past Fantasy Outlooks
2023
2022
Holmes ditched his curveball that wasn't effective in 2021 and relied solely on his 97 mph sinker (80% pitch usage) and slider (20%) last season. This led to phenomenal results, as the right-hander had a dominant first half for the Yankees and quickly took over as closer in the Bronx before being named to his first All Star team. Holmes had a 29-game scoreless streak early in the season and led qualified relievers with a ridiculous 75.8% groundball rate. On the flip side, he hit a rough patch a few weeks after the All Star Game and subsequently went on the IL with a back injury. He was not as sharp upon his return, which forced Aaron Boone to shift to a closer committee a few weeks before the playoffs. Holmes also dealt with a shoulder strain at the end of the season. Weighing the upside he showed in the first half of 2022 against his far worse second half makes Holmes a wild card for 2023 drafts, especially with Yankees bullpen roles currently in flux.
More Fantasy News
Melts down Tuesday
Holmes (2-5) took the loss and a blown save in Tuesday's 7-4 loss to the Rangers, allowing four runs on two hits and two walks over one-third of an inning.
ANALYSIS
Subscribe now to instantly reveal our take on this news.
Subscribe now to instantly reveal our take on this news.
Secures 29th save
Holmes earned the save in Friday's 6-3 victory over St. Louis, pitching a scoreless inning with no strikeouts.
ANALYSIS
Subscribe now to instantly reveal our take on this news.
Subscribe now to instantly reveal our take on this news.
Picks up 28th save
Holmes threw a perfect ninth inning to earn the save against the Nationals on Monday.
ANALYSIS
Subscribe now to instantly reveal our take on this news.
Subscribe now to instantly reveal our take on this news.
Earns 27th save
Holmes allowed a walk and struck out one in a scoreless ninth inning to earn the save against the Rockies on Friday.
ANALYSIS
Subscribe now to instantly reveal our take on this news.
Subscribe now to instantly reveal our take on this news.
Likely still primary closer
Yankees manager Aaron Boone indicated Tuesday that he still plans for Holmes to be his primary closer, Max Goodman of The Newark Star-Ledger reports.
ANALYSIS
Subscribe now to instantly reveal our take on this news.
Subscribe now to instantly reveal our take on this news.
Latest Fantasy Rumors
Saves in jeopardy?
Holmes' status as the Yankees' primary closer could change if the club is able to acquire Tanner Scott from the Marlins, reports Jon Heyman of the New York Post.
ANALYSIS
Holmes has a 2.74 ERA with a 45:11 K:BB across 42.2 innings this season, but the right-hander's 1.27 WHIP is a bit high, and he's blown seven saves in 28 chances. Meanwhile, Scott has a 1.18 ERA and has gone 18-for-20 in save opportunities for Miami, so there's an argument to be made for a closer change should New York be able to complete the trade. Manager Aaron Boone could also opt to use a matchup-based approach with Holmes and the lefty-throwing Scott. The Yankees are one of the favorites to land Scott ahead of Tuesday's deadline, but there are five other teams also in the mix.
Holmes has a 2.74 ERA with a 45:11 K:BB across 42.2 innings this season, but the right-hander's 1.27 WHIP is a bit high, and he's blown seven saves in 28 chances. Meanwhile, Scott has a 1.18 ERA and has gone 18-for-20 in save opportunities for Miami, so there's an argument to be made for a closer change should New York be able to complete the trade. Manager Aaron Boone could also opt to use a matchup-based approach with Holmes and the lefty-throwing Scott. The Yankees are one of the favorites to land Scott ahead of Tuesday's deadline, but there are five other teams also in the mix.