This Yanks rookie earned his first save

This story was excerpted from Bryan Hoch’s Yankees Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

When the phone rang for Ian Hamilton in the Yankees’ bullpen during the eighth inning on Saturday afternoon at Tropicana Field, no one was more stunned than the rookie right-hander. He was called upon to navigate his first Major League save.

“I was like, ‘Dang!’” said the 27-year-old Hamilton, who pitched around a double by Luke Raley to secure the final outs of New York’s 3-2 victory over the Rays. “I was surprised, for sure.”

The outing came after manager Aaron Boone opted to use scuffling closer Clay Holmes in the eighth inning, and Hamilton rewarded that faith by continuing to deliver.

A relative unknown as a non-roster invitee to big league Spring Training camp, Hamilton impressed the coaching staff with a unique slider/changeup combo the club calls a “slambio,” a combination of slider and cambio, the Spanish word for changeup.

The pitch has mystified opponents, helping Hamilton craft a 1.35 ERA through 13 appearances, spanning 20 innings, for New York. MLB.com’s Shanthi Sepe-Chepuru recently crunched some numbers to examine what makes the "slambio" so effective.

With relievers Tommy Kahnle, Jonathan Loáisiga and Lou Trivino all on the injured list, Hamilton has muscled into Boone’s bullpen circle of trust.

“I had no experience with him; I didn’t know much of anything about him, frankly,” Boone said. “Right away in Spring Training, he got all of our attention and put together a great spring. He’s obviously thrown the ball outstanding here to start the year and continues to earn himself more and more of a role.”

Hamilton said that he hadn’t recorded a save since his sophomore year at Washington State University. He grinned as he clutched a keepsake baseball from Saturday’s outing.

“Every inning, you’re just trying to get three outs,” Hamilton said. “You try to simplify it like that. But having it be the ninth, it’s definitely a different feel. It took me a little bit to calm down.”

After making his big league debut with the White Sox in 2018, Hamilton experienced a gruesome injury while sitting in a Minor League dugout in 2019. He was hit in the face by a hard-hit ball, requiring eight surgeries for facial fractures. (Current Yankees Giancarlo Stanton and Willie Calhoun also endured similar recoveries after being hit by pitches.)

Briefly returning to the Majors in 2020 with the White Sox, Hamilton appeared once for the Twins last year, then brought an intense focus into his first spring as a Yankee.

“What I’ve appreciated about him is, I think he really loves being here and wants to be here, where it matters like this,” Boone said. “There’s a business-like [demeanor] and a toughness about him that has shown through from the start.”

Indeed, Hamilton credits that mindset for helping to fuel his early success.

“I’ve tried to keep it almost like a Spring Training regimen,” Hamilton said. “I just kind of get up early, do everything in the morning. Relax a little bit, do stuff at night. I just try to keep the body moving the entire offseason. I just kept doing stuff every single day. Didn’t matter what day it was; didn’t know what day it was. I just kept doing something.”