When Aaron Boone turned to 26-year-old Clarke Schmidt in the bottom of the ninth, it seemed to have caused an uproar. The New York Yankees possessed a 5-3 lead with the tying runners on base. Wandy Peralta began the ninth with a Luke Maile flyout which was followed by consecutive bloop singles from Myles Straw and Steven Kwan.
Schmidt’s first challenge was Amed Rosario, who grounded one through the left side to cut the deficit to one. He then allowed an infield single to Jose Ramirez due to an unusual shift that created a wider gap between Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Josh Donaldson at third. Schmidt disposed of Josh Naylor and was met by Oscar Gonzalez to collect the final out. Gonzalez took a slider off the plate and drove it up the middle to score the winning runs.
Many are challenging Boone’s selection of Schmidt. Clay Holmes has been the Yankees’ closer all year long and is expected to play an identical role in the postseason. He pitched a day prior but faced just three batters before he was replaced. It’s time to take a dive into the late-inning decisions that may have cost the game.
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Boone was only using Holmes in an emergency
The Yankees kept to the script with Luis Severino, who pitched 5.2 innings effectively while yielding just three earned runs. The 28-year-old threw 105 pitches before he was removed from the game. Following Severino, Boone took an odd approach. He selected Lou Trivino, who threw seven pitches, and Jonathan Loaisiga, who faced just three batters.
The two relievers combined for 22 pitches which could have been extended. Loaisiga has the capacity to pitch two full innings, and the same applies to Trivino. Subsequently, the lefty Peralta tossed an effective eighth inning and was removed after allowing two runners two reach safely in the ninth.
According to Boone, Holmes was exclusively reserved for “emergency situations.” “He was available, but we felt like we would have put him in a tough situation. His availability in this series was not for back-to-back games.”
Ironically enough, with runners at the corners, Holmes was just the arm to turn to. The Yankees manager did the exact opposite of his word and handed the ball to Schmidt, who is not designed for high-leverage situations.
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Clay Holmes was surprised Clarke Schmidt got the call
Several players, including Holmes, expressed their feeling toward the controversial move. As per Holmes, “Those are some of the roles I have pitched in over the last few days. I woke up today preparing to pitch if needed, but sometimes those decisions aren’t mine. I was good to go if needed, and that’s how the conversation went.”
The only concern for Holmes was his shoulder which Boone wasn’t willing to risk even if he was available. Although, the closer pitched quite effectively the night prior and even noted that his shoulder felt fine. He threw 16 pitches in game two, nine of them landed for strikes. Holmes was only inclined to do the same in game three
Additionally, Luis Severino spoke out on this topic following the game. “He’s our closer, so of course, I was surprised. I don’t know if he was down. There shouldn’t be people down in the playoffs. That’s something you guys need to ask Boonie or Blake to see what was going on there.”
The Yankees’ season is now in jeopardy, and their hopes for a title are one game away from elimination. The bullpen situation needs to be settled, and incidents such as these cannot take place in postseason baseball.
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