NEW YORK ¨C The Yankees continue to preach patience with Devin Williams, voicing confidence that he will settle in to replicate his excellent track record as a two-time National League Reliever of the Year.
It hasn¡¯t happened yet. Williams blew a ninth-inning lead and was booed off the Yankee Stadium mound, with Alejandro Kirk¡¯s two-run double providing the margin of victory in the Yankees¡¯ 4-2 loss to the Blue Jays on Friday evening.
¡°Nothing¡¯s working right now,¡± Williams said. ¡°¡ I wish there was an easy answer, but I¡¯m not really sure. It¡¯s not a good feeling, not to be able to get the job done for the team. They put us in a great position to win there, and I couldn¡¯t get it done today.¡±
The implosion marked Williams¡¯ first blown save in five chances as a Yankee. But he has struggled in several other outings, including coughing up a four-run lead against the Rays last Saturday in Tampa.
This is strange territory for Williams. A two-time NL All-Star (2022, ¡¯23), the 30-year-old right-hander known for his ¡°Airbender¡± changeup fashioned a razor-thin 1.83 ERA across 241 appearances with the Brewers from 2019-24, saving 68 games.
But the Yankees, who acquired Williams in a December swap for left-hander Nestor Cortes and infielder Caleb Durbin, haven¡¯t seen anything close to that performance yet.
¡°We want to do everything we can to get him right,¡± said manager Aaron Boone. ¡°We know how good he is and how valuable he¡¯s going to be for us.¡±
After making waves this spring by voicing his opposition to a long-standing club grooming policy that forbade players from sporting beards, Williams has allowed 12 runs (10 earned) across his first eight innings as a Yankee, an unsightly 11.25 ERA.
Williams allowed just three earned runs in 21 1/3 innings last year (1.25 ERA).
¡°The hitters tell you if it¡¯s working or not, right?¡± Williams said. ¡°You can¡¯t really just base that off what you¡¯re doing in the bullpen. It¡¯s the swings they¡¯re having; I¡¯m falling behind in counts. I¡¯m not doing what I need to do.¡±
Friday¡¯s outing soured quickly. Assigned to protect a one-run lead fashioned by Austin Wells¡¯ eighth-inning sacrifice fly, Williams allowed a leadoff single to George Springer that set off alarm bells within the Yankees¡¯ infield.
Five pitches in, there was a huddle on the mound, one in which second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. said he was trying to deliver a confidence boost.
¡°It¡¯s new; New York, it¡¯s big, it¡¯s a little different,¡± Chisholm said. ¡°But I know my guy. I¡¯ve faced him and I¡¯ve talked to him a lot over the past years. I just know what he¡¯s got. So I just went out there and told him, ¡®Hey, this is your moment right here. You¡¯re the guy every time. This is who we want to give it to, and that¡¯s why you¡¯re here. We all believe in you, and we¡¯ve all got your back.¡¯¡±
It seemed to work, if only momentarily. Williams worked the count to 2-2 against the next batter, Andr¨¦s Gim¨¦nez, who absorbed a fastball off the right knee that prompted groans and grumbles from the sellout crowd of 46,081.
Some booed, and others chanted, ¡°We want Weaver,¡± calling for Luke Weaver, who excelled in the ninth inning last September and October when Clay Holmes¡¯ ongoing struggles prompted a late-season change. Williams heard.
¡°Everyone has their opinions,¡± Williams said. ¡°I don¡¯t have an opinion on it.¡±
The jeers grew louder when Kirk pummeled Williams¡¯ changeup over Trent Grisham¡¯s head in center field for a go-ahead knock, Springer and Gim¨¦nez running tightly together with the tying and go-ahead runs. Boone pointed to the bullpen, and a third run charged to Williams scored on Addison Barger¡¯s hit off Mark Leiter Jr.
¡°He¡¯s had a hard time getting count leverage,¡± Boone said of Williams. ¡°He¡¯s been behind [in the count] a lot, and that¡¯s not a great recipe.¡±
The collapse spoiled a taut contest that featured encouraging performances from Carlos Carrasco (five scoreless innings), Anthony Volpe (double and run scored), and Cody Bellinger (single, double, walk, run scored).
¡°We¡¯re going to have some ups and downs, but he¡¯s not alone,¡± Carrasco said of Williams. ¡°He has the whole team behind him. I think everything¡¯s going to be all right.¡±
First, the Yankees may entertain moving Williams into lower-leverage assignments, at least temporarily. Boone was not ready to discuss that in the wake of Friday¡¯s loss, saying it still felt ¡°raw,¡± but he did not dismiss the suggestion outright.
¡°We¡¯ll see. We¡¯ll kind of talk through that stuff,¡± Boone said.
Perhaps the Yanks will find a silver lining in this: Even in Milwaukee, the beginning of the season was always Williams¡¯ roughest. His career splits show a handful of clunky performances in the early going, then stellar numbers the rest of the regular season.
¡°At the end of the day, I still believe in myself,¡± Williams said. ¡°I believe in my ability to go out there and shut it down. So I¡¯m just going to keep working.¡±