The Yankees’ splendid regular-season record over the past few years was built largely on the backs of relief pitchers.
In 2022, the team had a top-five bullpen by Wins Above Replacement, ERA, opponents’ batting average, Win Probability Added and Fielding Independent Pitching, a statistic based on outcomes that do not rely on a pitcher’s defense. They were spectacular throughout the duration of the season and picked each other up when the unit was not at full strength. When one reliever went down with injury, struggled with command, or was just generally bad at getting hitters out, another person sprouted up to handle big moments whenever the bullpen phone rang.
When Clay Holmes went down with injury in August, fellow righties Jonathan Loaisiga and Lou Trivino combined to throw 12 innings and allow just one earned run, keeping the ball in the yard the entire time. As Loaisiga made a mess of things for the whole first half of the year, running a 7.85 ERA and trying to work through his problems in the unforgiving setting of actual games, Holmes was simply the best reliever in the world. His 1.31 ERA and truly absurd 82.7% groundball rate didn’t hold up after the All-Star break, but they were among the many statistical categories that were blessed by the baseball gods during the first half.
