Clay Holmes has been the most dominant closer in baseball this season (sorry, Pirates).
But when Aroldis Chapman comes back, Holmes might be going back to the eighth on plenty of occasions.
When talking to reporters about the closer role, Aaron Boone said Holmes will have the higher-leverage situations, whenever that may be.
"He'll be closing some games, too," he said, insinuating that if the heart of the lineup is coming up in the ninth, that's Holmes' time to close.
Simply put, it will be all about the matchups - if the heart of the order is coming up in the eighth, Boone will go with Holmes to take care of them, and Chapman will close - an idea similar to what Buck Showalter has done with Edwin Diaz.
Chapman is recovering from an Achilles injury, but has tossed a couple of bullpens in recent days and is close to a return.
It's hard to imagine that Chapman has a lengthy leash. He didn't allow a run in his first 12 outings, but in his last five (spanning 3.2 innings) before landing on the IL, he allowed at least one run in each appearance, and six total. Even during his scoreless streak, only 63 percent of his pitches were strikes, and he walked seven batters in 10.1 innings.
As for Holmes, he has not allowed a run since Opening Day, throwing 29.0 innings since then. He has 31 strikeouts as compared to just three walks.