Gavin Williams

From BR Bullpen

GavinWilliams1.jpg

Gavin Scott Williams

BR page

Biographical Information[edit]

Gavin Williams was the 23rd overall pick of the 2021 amateur draft, taken by the Cleveland Indians out of East Carolina University. The Indians became the Cleveland Guardians the following season, and Williams reached the majors by the middle of 2023, having burned through the minor leagues. In 2022, he went 5-4, 1.96 in 25 starts between the High-A Lake County Captains and AA Akron Rubber Ducks. In 2023, he was 4-2, 2.39 in 12 starts between Akron and the AAA Columbus Clippers.

In his debut on June 21, 2023, he started against the Oakland Athletics on June 21st and gave up 4 runs in 5 2/3 innings, but was not involved in the decision. His second start was a no-decision as well, but it gave an inkling of what he could accomplish in the majors: against the Kansas City Royals on June 27th, he gave up just one hit and one walk in 7 innings while striking out six opponents, but Cleveland did not score until the 9th inning and reliever Trevor Stephan received credit for the 2-1 win. He took his regular turn on the mound through the middle of September, when he was shut down as the Guardians wanted to limit his innings total. In 16 starts, he went 3-5, 3.29, with 81 strikeouts in 82 innings. Between the three stops, he pitched 142 1/3 innings, which was 30 more than his busiest season either in college or as a pro, which explains the early shut-down.

In 2024, Gavin started the season on the injured list with right elbow inflammation, and did not make his first start for Cleveland until July 3rd. He took his regular turn after that, but somehow, the Guardians seemed to always be on the losing end of the score when he pitched, going 4-12 in his 16 starts, which is particularly surprising given the team went 92-69 overall and Williams did not pitch that badly, with an ERA of 4.86 (ERA+ of 84) and 79 strikeouts in 76 innings. But given the team almost never won when he started, his record was an ugly 3-10. That kept him off the postseason roster until the ALCS, when he was activated and started Game 4 against the New York Yankees on October 18th. It was clear that he would be yanked at the first sign of trouble, and after giving up three runs in the first two innings, having coughed up homers to Juan Soto and Austin Wells, he was replaced by Erik Sabrowski before getting to face Soto again in the 3rd. Cleveland managed to close the deficit and the game was not decided until the 9th, when the Yankees scored twice against closer Emmanuel Clase to end up 8-6 winners.

He was healthy at the start of the 2025 season and getting better support from his team. He matched the previous season's win total by May 9th, when a 6-0 win over the Philadelphia Phillies improved his record to 3-2. On August 6th, he came very close to accomplishing a feat that no Cleveland pitcher had done since Len Barker's perfect game in 1981, which is to pitch a complete game no-hitter. He made it to the 9th inning without having allowed a hit to the New York Mets and struck out Francisco Lindor to start off the inning. However, next up was his old nemesis Soto, and he homered to center field just out of the reach of CF Ángel Martínez to end both the no-hitter and the shutout. He then got Pete Alonso to fly out for the second out, but walked Brandon Nimmo, which prompted manager Stephen Vogt to call on Hunter Gaddis to record the final out. He was still credited with the 4-1 win to improve his record to 7-4 in what was the longest outing of his career, as he had never previously been on the mound for more than seven innings, and he had made 126 pitches by the time he left the game.

Further Reading[edit]

  • Mandy Bell: "'It's unbelievable': Williams shows resolve in debut", mlb.com, June 21, 2023. [1]
  • Bill Ladson: "Williams comes tantalizingly close to Cleveland's first no-no since '81", mlb.com, August 6, 2025. [2]

Related Sites[edit]

Retrieved from "https://www.baseball-reference.com/bpv/index.php?title=Gavin_Williams&oldid=1447602"