When Devin Williams scuffled through extra innings (with the Ghost Runner) against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Sunday evening, that was understandable. Nobody survives the Ghost Runner easily – especially not if they’re wearing a Yankees uniform.
But, at some point, the pressure-filled outings for Williams need to become a thing of the past. Said pressure created a diamond on Opening Day, but mostly, it’s just been a tremendous drag. Williams’ trademark Airbender has rarely looked like a strike. The swings-and-misses have not been there; batters aren’t batting an eye. Williams’ paternity leave allowed him a regroup after the season-opening series against his old team in Milwaukee, but his inefficiency is now officially registering as a problem, and reared its ugly head in a must-win series finale against the Detroit Tigers Wednesday.
The Yankees, at one point, had the bases loaded with nobody out in the ninth inning, already having extended their advantage to 4-0. Paul Goldschmidt was at the plate, looking to add on.
Within a half hour, the score had curdled to 4-3, and Williams, brought on to hold a four-run advantage that should’ve loomed larger, was no longer in the game for the final out. That was obtained, blissfully, by Mark Leiter Jr. on just two pitches.
Yankees closer Devin Williams almost erases historic Max Fried start in Detroit
Williams officially has location and hittability problems that must be solved. No amount of bailout work on a frigid Wednesday in Motown can change that.
Thankfully, we’re discussing terrifying “almosts” here rather than outright disasters. What we should’ve been able to do was celebrate Max Fried for 250 words instead of burying him below the fold, but here we are.
Fried hasn’t been the issue with the Yankees’ rotation thus far. Instead, the problem is that there’s only one of him. New York’s best-laid plans involved playing the left-hander off Gerrit Cole, then following his efforts with Clarke Schmidt and Luis Gil. Fried has, instead, become the last one standing.
At the very least, he’s been historically good while doing so. On Wednesday, he joined an exclusive club of Yankees who’ve arrived, shoved, and immediately reaped the benefits of pinstripes, throwing seven innings and striking out 11 in a shutout effort. Any time you can rank up there with El Duque in terms of memorable debuts, you’re doing something right.
Fried has delivered and then some on the promise of his big-money contract. Now, it’s up to his other fellow newcomers to follow suit.
