The Pinstriped Baseball Lane

  The Yankee bullpen has earned a reputation for coming into games and shutting down bats.  The organization has had many valuable arms among its bullpen staff over the years.  I spoke about a few of them that we have now that have been dominant for a few seasons now.  Guys like Chad Green and Aroldis Chapman are definite assets to the back end of the pitching staff, and with being said, the Yankees bullpen has proven to be a vital component to all the wins that they managed to compile each season.

Of course baseball is a sport and athletes are human being, so that would mean that players aren’t always going to have seasons pan out in their favor.  The Yankees are seen as a championship driven ball-club, but that doesn’t mean that their player don’t struggle like every other ball-club.  I would like to point out that baseball and especially New York sports fan-bases take their sports very seriously. New Yorkers will be harsh critics of their own team. I have seen it and been apart of it as a Yankee fan.

Recently Jonathan Holder had to take heat from the Yankee fan base because of what majority of fans might describe as a infuriating 2019 season.  I mean it was just irritating to watch games that you got more than enough contribution from the offense and a well pitched game by any given starter, then when Holder comes in, he just blew leads and potentially what could of been a W  recorded in the books.  I mean the guy practically came into games and poured gasoline on fire.  He gave up grand slams to the Orioles, got lit up by anyone who he faced, and most New York Yankee fans disliked him.  Now, I am not saying I hate the guy, I’m just irritated with him.  I am not saying that I am one of those fans that pinpointed Holder as “the reason” for losing games, even though I will admit I did that when Michael Pineda was in pinstripes and just kept giving us inconsistent starts.

 At first, I gave Pineda the benefit of the doubt when he came to the New York Yankees, even through his inconsistent starts.  As his struggles dragged on, I began losing hope, whereas majority of other fans had already given up hope on him way earlier. Then came the pine tar scandal, honestly, that was when I lost stopped respecting him as a person and a player.  Frankly, I feel that way about Alex Rodriguez too.

Holder is different from those two guys though, he is among the players that stays away from illegal substances and prefers to work at getting better at his  his craft.  Like his teammate, Chad Green, Holder seems like he could eventually become a vital asset to the the club’s pitching staff too.

According to empiresportsmedia.com:

  “Jonathan Holder’s ERA shouldn’t be the only stat you look at, according to Fangraphs Jonathan Holder has a FIP of 4.45, xFIP of 4.43, and SIERA of 3.74. According to Baseball Savant, he had a 3.78 xERA, which shows that his 6.00+ ERA is misleading as he got very unlucky in 2019.  He had a K/9 of 10.02, BB/9 of 2.40, but what did him it was a 1.7 HR/9 with a 1.31 WHIP meant he would give up a lot of long balls with runners on.  If the peripherals show anything, it’s that he was a lot better than the ERA shows in 2019.”

Don’t Discredit His Track Record

 In 2018 Jonathan Holder was dominant, posting a, 3.18 ERA and 3.04 FIP, though his xFIP and SIERA were higher than his 2019 metrics. This is most likely due to fewer strikeouts in 2018 because he had an xERA of 3.52 and teams only had a .255 wOBA against Holder.  He was flat out great over 66.1 innings and he’s only 26 years old, so I don’t see any reason why he wouldn’t bounce back to being the dominating opponent that batters will hate to face in the upcoming season.

The New York Yankees saw RHP Tommy Kahnle get clobbered in 2018,while Holder flourished, but in 2019 Kahnle was a reliable reliever who was amazing in his campaign.  There is hope for the Yankees righty to follow suit and bounce back after a rough 2019.  He showed some promise post-all star break wherein 5.2 innings he had a 3.18 ERA and 0.53 WHIP.  There is hope for him, and Yankee fans can’t say a reliever can’t bounce back after a horrific season.  With two relievers having time to restore their craft, due to the corona-virus, I definitely believe the Yankees’ bullpen will have the necessary tools to contribute to wins against other clubs.

The Pitching And The Rebound Hype

Will Holder flop again?  I would like to believe that he won’t.  As he and his baseball colleagues adjust to a shortened season and a possible Arizona venue, I could see him putting together a more than decent season campaign for another run at a World Series title.  With the virus putting everything at a halt, I can see the lock-down giving pitcher time to perfect their craft and hopefully that works out in Jonathan Holder’s favor.  Personally, as a Yankee and baseball fan, I am excited to see the pitching staff get back to work against the opposing offense.

With a guy like Holder on the Yankees that had a phenomenal 2018, I can’t wait to see what a bounce back year looks like for him.  A rebounding season for Holder and his teammates that are injured makes for a strong push toward another power hungry push to a world series title.