At some point, Devin Williams has to make a turn for the better, right? Well, the former All-Star closer of the Milwaukee Brewers has been the epitome of pitiful since coming over to the New York Yankees. They thought they were getting the missing piece to get back to the World Series and finally win it. Frankly, the Yankees may do the thing. The only problem is Williams has become so unreliable of late.
Williams got booted from the closer's role after a series of high-profile meltdowns, and it seemed like a shift into a setup role had helped straighten him out. But on Tuesday, skipper Aaron Boone trotted him out there in the ninth inning for the first time in a while — and instead of building on his progress, he nearly imploded in real time, giving up two runs before finally securing the final out of a win over the Los Angeles Angels.
On the year, Williams boasts a terrible 6.75 ERA over 20 innings pitched. His WHIP is in a bad spot at 1.55. So it should come as no surprise that he has been effectively replaced by Luke Weaver as the closer, who has been absolutely on fire.
Look at Weaver's ERA+ of a jaw-dropping 542. Now look at Williams' abysmal 59. When the league average for that metric is designed to be 100, we are looking at a pitcher in Weaver who is nearly 10 times as productive as Williams. At some point, water will have to find its level. In the meantime, Boone will have to find a way to make use out of Williams. Otherwise, he is not pitching into October.
With Aaron Judge and Max Fried playing out of their minds, how can Williams not follow their suit?
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New York Yankees cannot afford to let Devin Williams find himself late
Every team is different. Pitching in New York is different than pitching in Milwaukee. Brewers fans may love their baseball too, but everything is heightened a bit when it comes to the Yankees. Not everyone can handle it. We have seen many of the game's best players crumble in the spotlight of playing in New York. Right now, it looks as though Williams is not built for it. He is not ready for this.
So what is Brian Cashman to do? Take no chances and leave no prisoners when it comes to addressing New York's biggest potential issue on the horizon come the trade deadline. It does not matter who Williams was in Milwaukee, he stinks like festering summer garbage for New York. The Yankees do not have to cut ties with him, but rather carve out another role for him, or deal for a player who can fill his.
In the end, New York may be on a crash course of getting back to the ALCS for yet another year. Unless the top of the AL Central levels up a bit, it will be New York in the driver's seat to play in another Fall Classic. Right now, I have no idea who is going to win the World Series. I might argue the Yankees are the team to beat. That being said, they will lose in October if Williams pitches like this, and while there had been cause for optimism lately, his most recent clunker suggests that maybe he just isn't the same pitcher in higher-leverage situations.
Time is on the Yankees' side to solve this issue, but we may be running out of time on Williams' clock.