The Bronx is a beautiful place to win—but a brutal one to struggle. Devin Williams found that out the hard way.
For a man once considered among baseball’s most dominant relievers, his early days in pinstripes felt like an identity crisis.
After April 25, his ERA stood at an alarming 11.25, with a WHIP of 2.38. Fans groaned, headlines grew crueler, and Williams—a two-time All-Star—looked like a shadow of his former self. It wasn’t just tough. It was gutting.
Even the New York Yankees‘ clubhouse felt the tension. Coaches and players stood stunned, searching for answers as once-nasty pitches were now getting crushed.
Matt Blake, the Yankees’ ever-cerebral pitching coach, didn’t hide his confusion. “It was shocking to everybody,” he admitted. “Everybody was trying to figure out what was going on.”
Why dominance disappeared: early problems and unraveling confidence
The issues weren’t mysterious upon closer inspection. Williams leaned heavily on his signature changeup, but without fastball precision, it lost its bite.
Hitters waited on it. And when he tried to compensate with the heater? It missed its spots—often in the most dangerous places.
Imagine a magician who keeps doing the same trick even after the crowd has figured it out. That was Williams in April—predictable, exposed, and overwhelmed.
Blake noted, “His fastball command wasn’t great, which limited what he was doing.” The Yankees had acquired a weapon, but it wasn’t firing right.
Behind the scenes: how the Yankees recalibrated their reliever
Rather than throw up their hands, the Yankees got to work. They didn’t panic. They collaborated. Williams, to his credit, responded.
Coaches encouraged him to break out of his predictability. “He’s more unpredictable and more aggressive in the zone,” Blake said.
The goal: take control of the count early and then expand the strike zone to invite chase swings—his bread and butter in Milwaukee.
And perhaps most crucially, they relieved him from the mental pressure of the closer role a few weeks ago. “We fully believe you will have success in this role,” Blake told him. “But let’s take a break.” That emotional reprieve helped Williams catch his breath—and his confidence.
Signs of life: recent success points to a promising turnaround
Now, with a 6.08 ERA—still high, but dramatically better—Williams has tossed scoreless outings in 11 of his last 13 games. The rhythm is returning. The mound no longer looks like a battlefield.
“He feels good about his process,” Blake shared. “There’s much more stability to get through those [bad outings] now.”
There’s a sense of calm in Williams’ approach, something that wasn’t there in the frenzied early weeks of his Yankee career.
Even if he’s not yet the unshakeable closer he once was, there’s a sense he’s getting closer by the outing.
Injuries, including one to Luke Weaver, have pushed Williams back into ninth-inning duties—for now. But he’s beginning to look the part again.
In baseball, redemption often comes quietly, one inning at a time. For Devin Williams, it’s already begun.
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