Don’t Look Now but Jonathan Holder is Coming

Don’t look now but the Yankees youth movement is in full effect, the future is now and many prospects including Jonathan Holder are coming. We’ve done one of these posts before as I showcased Jordan Montgomery and his stellar season as he inches towards the Major Leagues and I felt like I couldn’t praise Montgomery for his season without also giving a little love to Holder as well. Holder was drafted in the same draft as Jacob Lindgren, he was Lindgren’s teammate at Mississippi State in fact, but has since been stretched out and moved in and out of the starting rotation where he has absolutely flourished in both roles. Now he gets to showcase his talents as the RailRiders closer in the International League’s playoffs.

Holder was on the mound when the Scranton/Wilkes Barre RailRiders clinched their playoff spot earlier in the week and he made a statement in doing so. In the contest Holder faced 13 hitters and struck out 12 of them including 11 batters in a row in four innings of relief. That capped off a season in which he had 42 appearances, a 2.50 ERA, a 1.02 WHIP, 225 strikeouts in 219.2 innings and all with just 45 walks. That’s dominance not only in one level but across many levels in the Yankees farm system.

If Holder can pitch like that, given the Yankees current state of affairs in the bullpen department, he may be up for the team when the playoffs end down in Triple-A. The Yankees don’t need to give him a 40 man roster spot and don’t need to protect him from the Rule 5 Draft just yet either but some players simply push the issue and force the hand of the organization and you have to think Holder has done that this season.

Imagine this in 2017 and beyond. Dellin Betances in the 9^th, Jonathan Holder in the 8^th, Tyler Clippard in the 7^th, Adam Warren in the 6^th and whoever else can make the bullpen. That’s getting close to being dominant again and that has to be the ultimate game plan in the Bronx.