Devin Williams returned to the mound after back-to-back rocky outings cost him his closer job and looked like the pitcher the Yankees acquired to anchor the back-end of the bullpen.
Williams faced the Orioles’ five-six-seven hitters as he looked to preserve a one-run deficit and give the top of the Yanks order a chance at some ninth-inning heroics on Monday night in Baltimore. While the right-hander did his job, the bats didn’t hold up their end of the bargain in the 4-3 loss.
“Really good,” manager Aaron Boone said of the demoted closer’s 14-pitch (nine-strike) eighth inning. “Just liked his look out there. Was aggressive, just in the strike zone, aggressive with his fastball.”
It was three straight heaters to Ryan Mountcastle to get ahead 1-2, before a nasty changeup was whiffed for the first out.
“I thought every changeup he threw, [I] pretty good angle from it over there [from] my vantage point in the dugout, I liked the depth on the pitch,” the skipper added. “But also establishing his fastball in the strike zone with it.”
Williams battled Heston Kjerstad with the young left-handed outfielder fouling off three pitches and taking three balls before a changeup was weakly grounded to second. Ramon Urias saw two fastballs, ultimately popping out to first to close the door.
Devin Williams works a 1-2-3 eighth inning pic.twitter.com/CM5JNXgAX3
— Talkin’ Yanks (@TalkinYanks) April 29, 2025
In his previous two outings, he surrendered four runs (three earned) on three hits and a walk in an inning at Tampa before he pitched no part of an inning last Friday in The Bronx, allowing three runs on two hits in a blown save against Toronto.
While it wasn’t a high-leverage situation, Boone said he liked the spot for Williams to get work after not appearing in Sunday’s doubleheader.
“Hoping he could hold the line there for us, and obviously he did and gave us a chance there,” he said. “It was good to see him get out there and have 1-2-3. Thought he had some real good conviction with every pitch he threw.”
The manager is hopeful that the outing is a “step in the right direction” and can help the closer get his “mojo” back, reminding him “just how darn good you are at this game.”
Of course, this is only the start of what could be a long build-up for him to return to his usual self. Monday’s bounce-back saw Williams lower his ERA to an even 10.00 as he has now allowed 12 runs (10 earned) and 12 hits in 9.0 innings with seven walks and eight strikeouts.
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