With Clay Holmes dominating as the fill-in closer, Yankees fans are enjoying the respite from Aroldis Chapman-related stress -- and, relatedly, agonizing over whether manager Aaron Boone will restore Chapman as closer when he returns from the injured list.
But the key to understanding what the Yankees will do is to remember that they’re not especially interested in naming a full-time closer.
Asked on Wednesday about Holmes' role when Chapman returns, Boone said: "I think a little of everything. Like [Tuesday] night I would have potentially used Holmes in the eighth inning. If it lined up correctly, it would have been the top of that lineup and I hadn’t used [Wandy] Peralta already for the middle. I was prepared to go Clay in the eighth.
"He’ll be closing some games, too. Basically, he’s gonna find himself in a lot of the toughest parts of the lineup. So whether that’s the eighth inning, the ninth inning, we’ll just try and match him up as best we can."
Again, it’s understandable that any comment other than "Holmes is our closer" would worry those enjoying his 30-inning scoreless streak and 11-for-11 performance in save opportunities. And if Chapman is ineffective, Holmes or Jonathan Loaisiga will surely replace him altogether in the ninth.
But the way the teams views it is this: If Chapman can perform competently in the ninth, Boone has the flexibility of using Holmes in the highest-leverage situations that occur in the seventh or eighth. If the heart of the opposing order comes up in the ninth, Holmes would likely close. He is the most important Yankees reliever, and will be used as such -- whether that makes him a "closer" or not.
In Yankees parlance, this all means that the team wants relievers to stay in their "lanes" -- the predetermined segment of the game where their stuff plays best -- and not in roles like setup man or closer.
In his first four years on the job, Boone has typically deployed relievers in a more traditional fashion. Think Zack Britton as the eighth inning guy and Chapman as closer. But his comments (and our further reporting) about Holmes’ role after Chapman’s return indicate a further move into contemporary game planning.
Loaisiga, out with shoulder discomfort, recently began a throwing program. When he returns, the Yankees’ expectation is that he, Holmes and Chapman will pitch the late innings of close games in whatever order makes winning the game most likely.