{"id":87807,"date":"2024-10-17T00:02:23","date_gmt":"2024-10-17T04:02:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=87807"},"modified":"2024-10-17T00:02:58","modified_gmt":"2024-10-17T04:02:58","slug":"new-and-old-yankees-closer-strong-impact-postseason","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/10\/17\/new-and-old-yankees-closer-strong-impact-postseason\/","title":{"rendered":"Old and New Yankees Closers Making Strong Impact in Postseason"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Things are working out better than expected this postseason with regard to the New York Yankees bullpen, as it seems the closer debate has been firmly resolved and everyone now has a set role.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Yankees were losing hope in their closer situation. Their confidence in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/h\/holmecl01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-10-16_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Clay Holmes<\/a> to save games was diminishing quickly. From the midway point to the end of the regular season, the issue threatened to become detrimental to the club\u2019s future and postseason status.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Yankees depended on Holmes consistently since he first arrived with the team. In the past, Holmes had proven to be a solidified closer, but his recent performances showed otherwise. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Holmes finished the regular season with a seemingly respectable 3.14 ERA and 30 saves. However, he also recorded 13 blown saves, which was enough to second-guess his credibility.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This forced manager <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/managers\/booneaa01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Aaron Boone<\/a> and the front office to consider other options on a day-to-day basis. This approach ended up being the right thing to do.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><strong>Yankees Old and New Closers Each Having Strong Impact in Postseason<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the month of September, Boone had made it clear that his closer may be chosen in the spur of the moment. Who served as the closer would be based on rest, load management, and matchup considerations.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">At one point, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/c\/cortene01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-10-16_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Nestor Cortes<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/s\/stromma01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-10-16_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Marcus Stroman<\/a> were in conversation about a <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/09\/09\/left-handed-pitcher-yankees\/\" target=\"_self\">platoon role<\/a>. Right-hander <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/k\/kahnlto01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-10-16_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tommy Kahnle<\/a> was also an effective option to possibly fit the role.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">After trial and error, the Yankees ultimately identified their most trusted arm in a save situation.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/opQ8o2pWCeU?si=NwMH2qQJn0Y8Zj3i\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h3><strong>The Bronx Bombers Trust Luke Weaver<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In his mid-relief role, <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/search\/search.fcgi?pid=weavelu01,weaver001luk&amp;search=Luke+Weaver&amp;utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-10-16_br\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Luke Weaver<\/a> concluded the 2024 regular season with bright numbers. He had the confidence of his club to be dominant and consistent. Weaver finished the year with a 7-3 record, in 62 games and 84 innings pitched. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">He struck out 103 hitters and recorded a 2.89 ERA. Weaver only saved four games all season, but his pitch repertoire, composure, approach, and attack had earned him the opportunity to be in the big relief seat.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So far, Weaver has been in six postseason games this year, saving four of them. He\u2019s recorded nine strikeouts in seven innings with a 0.00 ERA and a 0.571 WHIP.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Weaver&#8217;s Profile and Repertoire\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Weaver brings a relaxed, composed demeanor when on the mound. His approach and plan of attack seem very calculated and he pitches with emphasis and confidence. Weaver works the zone and isn\u2019t afraid to attack established hitters.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">He has a <a  href=\"https:\/\/baseballsavant.mlb.com\/savant-player\/luke-weaver-596133?stats=statcast-r-pitching-mlb\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">four-pitch arsenal,<\/a> leading with a fastball and mixing a change-up, cutter, and knuckle curve. All but the knuckle curve holds a value of 20+ percent in put-away percentage this year.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Weaver relies on his change-up as his out pitch. This sits at 88-89 mph and works low and away, and belt-high on the outside. He keeps this pitch at or below the knees and the fade falls at the last second, missing barrels early and often.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In his Game One save against the Cleveland Guardians in the American League Championship Series, Weaver worked 14 fastballs and 10 change-ups. 12 pitches were taken by hitters and 12 were swung at.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Weaver does not allow for much contact, but when he runs into it, it often results in a groundout.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Weaver\u2019s consistency and IQ of not only the game, but his own abilities, give him an upper hand<\/span>. It is safe to say that the Yankees will continue to trust Weaver as the closer until he shows otherwise.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Clay Holmes Has Adapted to His Relief Role<\/strong><\/h3>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Clay Holmes, Vicious 98mph Sinker. \ud83d\ude24 <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/WdE0pl3nBt\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/WdE0pl3nBt<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/PitchingNinja\/status\/1846363005208166635?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">October 16, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Holmes has moved from being the Yankees closer to a more mid-relief role, working earlier innings and often making concise work. In 6 \u2154 postseason innings, Holmes has picked up two wins with five strikeouts and also a 0.00 ERA.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Holmes will continue to appear in these situations along with short relief and set-up roles. The lower-pressure situations he\u2019s worked in, the better it\u2019s been for him.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Photo Credit: \u00a9 Brad Penner-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Things are working out better than expected this postseason with regard to the New York Yankees bullpen, as it seems the closer debate has been firmly resolved and everyone now has a set role. The Yankees were losing hope in their closer situation. Their confidence in Clay Holmes to save games was diminishing quickly. From [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5126,"featured_media":87821,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5,1071],"tags":[5566,2562,285,1550],"class_list":["post-87807","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-yankees","category-mlb","tag-clay-holmes","tag-luke-weaver","tag-marcus-stroman","tag-tommy-kahnle"],"modified_by":"Lewis Masella, Site Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87807","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5126"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=87807"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87807\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/87821"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=87807"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=87807"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=87807"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}