The Yankees Have a Closer Problem

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Through his first 38 games of the season Clay Holmes was the best closer in Major League Baseball. In his first 39.1 IP the right hander posted an absurd 0.46 ERA. The walk issues that plagued him in Pittsburgh had vanished and as a result his devastating sinker destroyed opposing hitters. Over the last 11 games Holmes' ERA is a horrific 10.24, blowing 3 saves in the process, with the walks piling up. All of a sudden Holmes can't command his sinker and it's killing him. It's killing me. Is he tired? Is it just an odd inability to repeat his release point? Whatever it is he's gotta figure it the fuck out. Pitching coach Matt Blake has to fix this ASAP. 

Right now Clay Holmes simply cannot be your closer and as much as it pains me to say it, you have to go back to Aroldis Chapman. I know for certain it won't work out. It'll implode in epic proportion at some point and make me wanna die, but right now you really don't have a choice. I'm gonna start convincing myself that Chapman's increased reliance on the splitter while ditching the slider has cured him. Yeah what could go wrong? My god do I miss Michael King. Ron Marinaccio is capable of closing games but the team would rather him trapped in the minors because Albert Abreu doesn't have options to send him down. That's a whole different conversation. 

Aside from the closer situation, the Yankees just don't score enough. Today they went a pathetic 1 for 10 with runners in scoring position. They've now gone 7 straight extra innings without a run crossing the plate. Gleyber and Donaldson paired back to back in the lineup combine for almost zero production. Donaldson guesses wrong nearly every at bat and Gleyber is about as off-balanced at the plate as humanly possible. The lineup desperately misses Giancarlo Stanton who is still likely weeks away at best. 

This nightmare roadtrip continues to roll along making me want to gouge my eyes out. I really thought the disaster losses were a thing of the past. Turns out they were all just waiting in bunches for the 2nd half to begin. 1-8 in their last 9. Make it stop.