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By Gabe Smallson
Contributing Sports Writer
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The New York Yankees acquired Devin Williams from the Milwaukee Brewers this past offseason in hopes of finding their new closer, parting ways with left-hander Nestor Cortes and infielder prospect Caleb Durbin in the process.
The goal was to have Williams and fellow closer Luke Weaver create a formidable duo out of the bullpen — and although Weaver has held up his end of the bargain with a 0.53 ERA through 15 appearances, Williams' recent play has earned him the unfortunate title of one of this season's biggest disappointments by The Athletic's Jim Bowden.
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Bowden cited Williams as a major reason that the Yankees don't have a larger lead in the American League East.
"He lost the closer job to Weaver, and his poor performance has prevented the Yankees from expanding their lead in the AL East," said Bowden. "Williams' stuff is still good, but he just hasn't had the command of his fastball and signature changeup that we're used to seeing."
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With a 9.24 ERA through 15 games, Williams has shown obvious control issues, given his 13 earned runs and 11 walks allowed through 12.2 innings.
His 17.5% walk rate is among the bottom one percent of eligible pitchers in MLB.
Leading up to his arrival in the Bronx, Williams had a career 1.83 ERA over 235.2 career innings. An average ERA+ of 159 over those six years in Milwaukee earned him two All-Star nods, a Rookie of the Year award and a pair of Trevor Hoffman Reliever of the Year awards.
Even after missing the first half of 2024, Williams was still able to produce a 1.25 ERA and 14 saves despite starting his season toward the end of July.
As for Williams being labeled a disappointment, Bowden certainly has a point given his start to the campaign, but there is light at the end of the tunnel for the reliever.
Williams is still in the 87th percentile of Whiff percentage among active MLB pitchers, and that was on full display in his most recent outing against the San Diego Padres.
Of his 21 pitches, batters swung and missed at six of them, with five of those being via his changeup. He added three strikeouts and a walk, as he was also credited with the win during his 10th inning appearance.
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