Source confirms: Jonathan Holder getting September call-up

A Mississippi high school broke the news:

Congratulations to former GHS Admiral Jonathan Holder! Jonathan has been called up by the New York Yankees. pic.twitter.com/eTx2CiOhZF

— Gulfport Athletics (@ghs_athletics) September 2, 2016

A team source confirms, relief pitcher Jonathan Holder is, in fact, getting a September call-up to help the Yankees' bullpen.

The news comes as something of a surprise because Holder is not yet eligible for the Rule 5 draft, meaning the Yankees did not have to put him on the 40-man roster this offseason. Giving him a call-up means Holder will occupy a roster spot that could have gone to someone else this winter.

Ultimately, the Yankees decided it was a worthwhile trade off.

Holder has been the top relief pitcher in the Yankees' system this year. He has a 0.66 WHIP with 101 strikeouts and only seven walks while pitching mostly in Double-A and Triple-A (though he did open with two appearances with High-A Tampa). Holder made quite a statement on Sunday when he struck out 12 batters in a dominant four-inning relief appearance for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

That outing came just as the Yankees were getting themselves very much in the wild card race, only 2.5 games behind Baltimore and Detroit heading into this weekend series against the Orioles. Clearly the Yankees think Holder can play a significant role, otherwise it would not have been worth clogging a roster spot all offseason.

No official word on the full set of initial September call-ups, but it's worth noting that both Tyler Webb and Johnny Barbato pitched in Triple-A last night, which suggests they will be promoted for tonight's game.