The New York Yankees have a lot of new faces taking part in spring training this year, and some are making a lasting impression.
Not all of them, such as star prospect George Lombard Jr., are going to be on the Major League roster, but it is nice to see the youngster performing at such a high level against top-end competition.
One of the newest additions people are most excited to see is relief pitcher Devin Williams.
Acquired from the Milwaukee Brewers in exchange for starting pitcher Nestor Cortes and infield prospect Caleb Durbin, he is expected to take over as the team’s closer in 2025.
Williams will be looking to continue the dominance he has shown thus far in his career to cash in next winter when he becomes a free agent.
Nothing would boost his value quite like performing at a high level with the Yankees.
The NL Rookie of the Year in 2020, he has been arguably the most unhittable relief pitcher in the game since making his debut.
Across 253.2 innings, Williams has registered a microscopic 1.83 ERA with 375 strikeouts. The only thing that gets him in trouble is walks, as his 4.3 BB/9 is not ideal, but he more than makes up for it with a 4.9 H/9 and 1.023 WHIP.
What separates him from his peers is a devastating changeup, which has earned its own nickname; “Airbender.”
For the first time in live action, New York fans, his teammates and coaches got to see the pitch at work.
It did not disappoint, as he worked a scoreless frame against the Philadelphia Phillies, barely breaking a sweat.
Williams needed only 12 pitches, surrendering one single to Kyle Schwarber but making quick work of Alec Bohm, J.T. Realmuto and Max Kepler otherwise.
He was pleased with how things went.
“I feel like it’s in a good spot,” Williams said, via Bryan Hoch of MLB.com. “I was kind of playing around with it today and had a good feel for it, so I’m happy.”
The “Airbender” looks to be in midseason form, as the numbers on the pitch from the outing against the Phillies were as elite as ever.
As shared by Pitch Profiler, Williams threw his changeup for half of his pitches. It registered an obscene proStuff+ of 157 with a 50.0% whiff rate as opposing batters were left baffled at the plate.
It worked well off of his fastball, which was clocked at almost a nine mph difference.
A proStuff+ score of 136 was recorded on his four-seamer, as his two-pitch combo remains amongst the nastiest in baseball.
It will be interesting to see if the cutter, which he only threw once, sticks around; it was the pitch that Schwarber hit for a single and the results have been mixed this spring.
