For the second straight season, the Yankees are dealing with a change in their closer and the difference is the time of the year the move by manager Aaron Boone is occurring at a time of the season well before Clay Holmes was lifted from his closing role last season before getting off to a nice start as a starting pitcher for the New York Mets.
The news of Devin Williams being lifted from the closer’s role dominated the headlines over the weekend and to a lesser extent on Monday when the Yankees started a three-game series with the Baltimore Orioles, who are struggling way worse than anyone expected entering the season.
The trouble for Williams began with a high-wire save on opening day against the Milwaukee Brewers when he allowed a run and needed 36 pitches to secure a 4-2 win. After a scoreless appearance April 4, he gave up the game-ending hit two days later and was pulled from a non-save situation in Detroit on April 9.
Four scoreless appearances followed, and Williams threw a combined 56 pitches in those outings. He allowed three runs April 19 against Tampa Bay and did not pitch again until Friday when the changeup failed him on a two-run double by Alejandro Kirk and he was pulled after 12 pitches.
Williams was pulled after 10 appearances where he allowed the first batter to reach five times and gave up six hits on his changeup. Last year Holmes blew 13 saves, including 11 in his capacity as the closer.
Holmes blew a save in his fourth appearance and did not blow another one until his 21st appearance. The first blown save was in extra innings (overtime) where runs are not earned due to the automatic runner and by the time the Seattle Mariners beat him with four soft hits on May 20, Holmes had not allowed an earned run until that point.
Holmes was still pitching effectively through most of the summer and getting hurt by soft contact and occasional shaky defense. The last straw in the case for keeping Holmes as closer was Sept. 4 when he allowed a game-ending grand slam to Wyatt Langford and Luke Weaver replaced him, becoming the closer and one of the best Yankee waiver claims in recent memory.
Back then, it did not sound like the Yankees expected Holmes to return to closing and he did decently as part of the setup mix other than Game 3 of the ALCS in Cleveland when he allowed a game-ending homer to David Fry. It was a game that was in the long run was not the end of the world for the Yankees since they won the series in five and Holmes pitched scoreless ball in each of the five games in the World Series before returning to starting with the Mets.
The Yankees were willing to enter the season with Weaver, whose emergence gave them enough empirical evidence that the right-hander was up the role. Ultimately, they did to acquire Williams from the Brewers because like Corbin Burnes following the 2023 season, he was entering the last season before free agency.
By pulling Williams from the role and trying to build his confidence back up, the Yankees are willing to give him another crack at the role down the road whether in a few weeks or a few months.
The Yankees did need Williams Sunday when they outscored the Blue Jays 16-3 in a nice doubleheader sweep and perhaps that was a good thing to give him some more time to mentally digest the news of temporarily being in another role besides closer.
It was unclear what role the Yankees would use him in, but he provided a good first step on the road back Monday night in Baltimore. He kept the game at one run and would have been the winning pitcher if the Yankees were able to come back in the ninth and close it out.
He threw a clean 14 pitches in a 1-2-3 eighth inning, throwing nine fastballs and five changeups that seemed to be some of the best of his signature pitch all season and the quiet outing meant Boone could discuss things such as enjoying how Williams pitched.
“I liked his look out there,” Boone said. “He was aggressive in the strike zone, aggressive with his fastball. I thought every changeup he threw … I liked the depth on the pitch, but also establishing his fastball and in the strike zone for us.”
The Yankees eventually expect Williams to get more saves, and the road back starts with a run of positive results.
