NY Times · Jul 9, 2022
‘The Sinker Is Going to Be My Ticket’
Credit...Vaughn Ridley/Getty ImagesBOSTON — Clay Holmes threw a sinker from the first time he ever played catch. He was seven years old, he guessed, and his fingers felt comfortable along the seams, not across them. In time, the two-seam grip would give his pitches downward, tailing action, and give him a professional career — if only he could keep it.
Holmes, the breakout star of this blissful Yankees season, took seven years to reach the majors with the Pittsburgh Pirates, who drafted him from an Alabama high school in 2011. Holmes struggled in the majors but resisted the temptation to change. He already had his separator.