Yankees manager Aaron Boone open to someone other than Clay Holmes closing a game

Aaron Boone on Tuesday said Clay Holmes – who came into Tuesday night with an MLB-leading 10 blown saves – has been throwing the ball as well as he ever has.

Yet, speaking before Tuesday night’s game against the Guardians, the Yankees manager left open the possibility, depending on the circumstance, someone other than Holmes could end up closing in the foreseeable future.

“We’ll see,” Boone said. “I expect it to be Clay a lot of nights, but if I feel like that really good matchup for Clay is in the eighth on a given night, (and it) lines up better what’s coming around in the ninth for Weave (Luke Weaver) or Tommy (Kahnle) or whoever, then I’ll be open to doing that a little bit more than I have.”

Blown save No. 10 came in Sunday night’s 3-2 loss in 10 innings to the Tigers in the Little League Classic in Williamsport, Pa. Called on in the ninth to protect a 1-0 lead, Holmes allowed a one-out double to Colt Keith and a game-tying RBI single by Jace Jung. The Yankees took  a 2-1 lead in the top of the 10th, but Mark Leiter Jr. allowed the Tigers to push two runs across in the bottom half to win it.

“I guess just one of those things where [I] felt pretty good,” Holmes said afterward. “Just two pitches there.”

There has been a lot of that for Holmes this season.

The righthander relies primarily on a power sinker that, when at his best, induces a lot of soft contact outs.

Holmes over the years has added a slider and sweeper to his repertoire – using those two pitches this season more than he ever has in an effort to generate more swing-and-miss – but he remains a pitcher whose overall effectiveness depends on hitters getting themselves out.

All of which makes him susceptible to the kind of “bad luck” Boone often ascribes to his blown saves – those coming as a result of weak contact that finds holes.

“Nothing,” Boone said of any difference in Holmes’ stuff he’s noticed this year compared to when the closer has experienced periods of dominance. “In fact, I think his stuff right now is in line with as good as it’s been. The last few years he’s had some really good years for us and there’s been stretches where he’s had those couple weeks where he’s been out of sync. That really hasn’t been the case this year. He’s been unfortunate in some spots, hasn’t made the key pitch in some spots. And the nature of him sometimes is they’re going to find a hole here and there. Moving forward you expect him to be really good because he is really good and that’s where he’s at if you really break down his outings.”

Entering Tuesday, Holmes was 26-for-36 in save opportunities, but posting a more than respectable 2.88 ERA in 51 games. This is not a pitcher getting shelled with regularity.

“(If you) really break it down, he’s throwing the ball really well,” Boone said. “He’s been unfortunate, he hasn’t made a pitch in a couple of spots where he could, but based on the way he’s thrown the ball the entirety of this year really, you would expect him to have success moving forward, and that’s my expectation.”

Just not necessarily in the ninth inning.

“Could very well be,” Boone said before Tuesday’s game of which direction he was leaning if a save opportunity presented itself later in the night. “But I will leave that open and try to put these guys in places where they match up really well. We’ll see…We’ll put these guys in the position we think they can be the most successful.”

Rizzo latest

Among those stepping in during Tuesday afternoon’s live BP by injured righthander Ian Hamilton, who said afterward he would be headed out Saturday on a rehab assignment, was first baseman Anthony Rizzo. The 35-year-old Rizzo, who scorched a double down the rightfield line, has been on the IL since June 18 with a right arm fracture.

Though Boone said Rizzo “feels really good,” the healing of the fracture has taken longer than expected. “The biggest thing for him, he can do everything now at full-steam ahead, feels great doing it, strength is there,” Boone said. “If that thing was fully healed, where he’s at right now (physically), he’d be out playing. But we have to make sure that heals to a certain level.”

Boone did not offer a timetable for when that might occur.