Things were already going poorly for closer Devin Williams in his first season with the New York Yankees. On Saturday, they got a lot worse.
The Yankees led 8-4 when Williams took the mound for the ninth inning of Saturday’s game with the Tampa Bay Rays. But after Williams retired Kameron Misner to lead the inning off, the next five Tampa hitters reached base. Jose Caballero reached on an infield single, Ben Rortvedt walked, Chandler Simpson hit an RBI double and Yandy Díaz produced an RBI infield single to cut the lead to 8-6. Pinch running for Díaz, Taylor Walls stole second, putting the tying run in scoring position for Brandon Lowe — who tied the game with a two-run single.
Williams got out of the inning when the next hitter, Junior Caminero, grounded into a double play. But after the Yankees failed to score in the top half of the tenth inning, the Rays quickly ended it in the bottom half with a two-run homer from Jonathan Aranda.
Before Saturday’s outing, Williams had a 5.14 ERA and 1.86 WHIP on the young season. After Saturday, he has a 9.00 ERA and 2.25 WHIP. And while those stats can frequently look out of sorts in the early weeks of the season — especially for relief pitchers — consider the following. Williams allowed three earned runs and 10 hits in the entire 2024 season. And while injuries did limit Williams to 21.2 innings in 2024, he’s already surrendered more earned runs (8) and hits (11) in just eight innings in 2025.
Naturally, a lot of people — particularly those who cheer for the Yankees — are concerned.
There’s a lot of time for Williams to turn things around.
Further saving grace for Williams, the Yankees and their fans is that history suggests a change is likely. Williams has been a slow starter throughout his career. He now has a career 4.33 ERA and 1.58 WHIP in March/April. In the remaining months, he sports a 1.64 ERA and 0.96 WHIP.
But while history does work in Williams’ favor, he needs to right the ship sooner rather than later. If not, the frustration will only grow.
About Michael Dixon
About Michael:
-- Writer/editor for thecomeback.com and awfulannouncing.com.
-- Bay Area born and raised, currently living in the Indianapolis area.
-- Twitter:
@mfdixon1985 (personal).
@michaeldixonsports (work).
-- Email: mdixon@thecomeback.com
Send tips, corrections, comments and (respectful) disagreements to that email. Do the same with pizza recommendations, taco recommendations and Seinfeld quotes.