New York Yankees closer Clay Holmes has been lights out thus far into the 2024 season, and that continued during Wednesday night’s matchup against the Baltimore Orioles.
Holmes pitched 1 2/3 innings on Wednesday, picking up his league-best 10th save of the season. During the outing, his 15th consecutive scoreless appearance of the campaign, Holmes had some nasty bite on his breaking pitches.
Orioles hitters simply couldn’t keep up with the range of breaking pitches he was serving up, and a pitch overlay video of Holmes’s 97-mph sinker and 85-mph sweeper, courtesy of Rob Friedman, offered a prime example as to why his pitches have proven largely unhittable.
Clay Holmes, 97mph Sinker and 85mph Sweeper, Overlay.
Holy F'n Crap. 😳 pic.twitter.com/a092BLjJx8
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) May 2, 2024
Holmes’s sinker runs sharply back over the plate, with some seriously nasty late bite. Meanwhile, the sweeper breaks hard to the outside (against right-handed hitters), making for a truly devastating combination.
The pitch overlay video had MLB fans in awe, as the baseball world could all agree that facing the 31-year-old seems like an unfair battle for any hitter.
nastiest overlay I’ve ever seen omg. DNA strand lookin pitches 🧬 https://t.co/JAtewiTat9
— blind nativist 🇦🇷 (@jadnhsf) May 2, 2024
