That was the Devin Williams that the New York Yankees and their fans had been waiting to see. Not just because of his performance on the mound, although that certainly helped: Called upon to protect a 3-3 tie in the top of the 10th, Williams struck out the side while leaving the bases loaded, allowing New York to walk it off in the bottom half.
But even more important than how he pitched was how he looked on the mound. Over his first month in pinstripes, Williams seemed like a shell of himself — all slumped shoulders and vacant stares, just hoping to avoid disaster every time Aaron Boone gave him the ball. Compare that to how he celebrated his punchout of Xander Bogaerts on Wednesday:
The fact that Williams rediscovered the strike zone and the feel for his signature changeup is great news. The fact that he's finally strutting like a two-time All-Star, however, is the best news of all.
For more news and rumors, check out MLB Insider Robert Murray’s work on The Baseball Insiders podcast, subscribe to The Moonshot, our weekly MLB newsletter, and join the discord to get the inside scoop during the MLB season.
Devin Williams has finally found his swagger for the Yankees
Look: It's not easy pitching in New York, in case you hadn't heard. Yankee Stadium is a notoriously unforgiving place, one that's chewed up and spit out plenty of talented players over the years. (I don't say this as a compliment, by the way: Speaking as a Yankees fan myself, sometimes we can get way out of pocket.)
Williams had the unfortunate distinction of being a central part of New York's response to losing out on the Juan Soto sweepstakes. That, coming on the heels of an embarrassing World Series loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers, already had everybody in the tristate area on edge. The bar could not have been higher, and when the righty got off to a slow start — a common occurrence over the course of his career — fans smelled blood in the water.
It's clear that Williams didn't respond well to that, and you can't blame him. He was still getting his feet underneath him in a new clubhouse and a new city, and now half of that city wanted him run out of town. That, more than anything to do with his pitching, was the biggest hurdle he needed to overcome to get back to performing the way the Yankees knew he could.
Progress isn't always linear, and it's possible that Williams might burn through all this good will his next time out. But the roar he let loose while skipping off the mound felt awfully cathartic, like a star reasserting his place in the baseball firmament. If he can start believing in himself again, the sky's the limit — both for himself and this Yankees bullpen.