{"id":92053,"date":"2024-12-14T01:50:58","date_gmt":"2024-12-14T06:50:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=92053"},"modified":"2024-12-14T01:50:58","modified_gmt":"2024-12-14T06:50:58","slug":"analytical-insight-yankees-devin-williams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/12\/14\/analytical-insight-yankees-devin-williams\/","title":{"rendered":"Analytical Insight on the Newly Acquired Yankees Closer"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The New York Yankees have taken advantage of free agency with various transactions, including<a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/12\/13\/yankees-trade-for-devin-williams\/\" target=\"_self\"> bringing in<\/a> established right-handed closer <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/search\/search.fcgi?pid=willide03,willia005dev&amp;search=Devin+Williams&amp;utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-12-14_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Devin Williams<\/a>. In return, the Yankees are sending infielder <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/register\/player.fcgi?id=durbin000cal&amp;utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-12-14_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Caleb Durbin<\/a> and pitcher <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/c\/cortene01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-12-14_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Nestor Cortes<\/a> to Milwaukee.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Welcome to New York, Devin Williams! \ud83d\udd25 <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/rtsex0MVUq\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/rtsex0MVUq<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 MLB (@MLB) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MLB\/status\/1867654045378470136?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">December 13, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is safe to say the team&#8217;s long-standing search for a closer has concluded. The Yankees parted ways from their <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/11\/24\/yankees-options-closer-2025-season\/\" target=\"_self\">former closer<\/a> a few weeks ago. Right-hander <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/h\/holmecl01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-12-14_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Clay Holmes<\/a> entered <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/11\/06\/yankees-clay-holmes-free-agency\/\" target=\"_self\">free agency<\/a>, where he was picked up by the New York Mets.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Cortes was also a key contributor as both a starter and reliever, but his reliability was minimal as the seasons went on. The Yankees also used the southpaw for sporadic save situations, which didn\u2019t really amount to much time. His contributions don&#8217;t quite stack up to the return the Yankees gained.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/BH60bNzdNG8?si=TR39B2ibJn_tasPt\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As for the Yankees&#8217; interim closer, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/search\/search.fcgi?pid=weavelu01,weaver001luk&amp;search=Luke+Weaver&amp;utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-12-14_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Luke Weaver<\/a>, his role is almost certain to change. With Williams as the newly established closer, Weaver most likely will move to a set-up role and serve as backup closer.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><strong>Breaking Down the Analytics on Devin Williams<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The right-hander has six seasons in the major leagues. His entire career has been with the Milwaukee Brewers, who drafted him in the second round of the 2013 draft.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The 24-year-old\u2019s career saw real life in the year of 2021 and fully blossomed in 2022. In the 2021 season, he recorded an 8-2 record in 54 innings with 96 strikeouts and 30 walks. It was 2022 when Williams solidified himself in relief, and the Brewers began to rely on him in volatile situations.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In 2023, Williams crafted the best season he\u2019s had yet in his career. The reliever pitched 58 2\/3 innings, putting up 36 saves, only blowing four. He had a 90% save percentage with a 1.53 ERA. His season-ending record was 8-3 with 87 strikeouts and 28 walks with 231 batters faced.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In 2024 he saved 14 games with a 1.25 ERA. Williams has a career 1.83 ERA with 68 saves. He made the All-Star team twice, in 2022 and 2023.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><strong>How Does the Closer Bring Value to the Bronx?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The right-hander Williams is established from a pitch-ability aspect, regardless of what relief capacity he\u2019s in. He\u2019s shown the capability to throw the baseball with emphasis and conviction. The 6\u20192\u201d 193-pounder steps off the mound with a calm and repeated delivery, showing a fluid arm action and slot.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As a closer or late-game reliever, his composure is key, even in the most stressful situations. One of Williams\u2019 biggest strong points is his command. Precise pitch location is almost guaranteed from Williams, including both his fastball and off-speed stuff.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The right-hander <a  href=\"https:\/\/baseballsavant.mlb.com\/savant-player\/devin-williams-642207?stats=statcast-r-pitching-mlb\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">employs a three-pitch mix<\/a>; a four-seam fastball, changeup, and cutter. The fastball command is on point, and he\u2019s able to work hard corners with it. It sits around 95-97 mph with arm side run.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">His fastball is his most used pitch. It has a noticeable arm-side run, with 11.7 inches of horizontal movement. It is spot on with command, and he\u2019s able to paint the top and bottom shelf.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">His changeup is his out-pitch. It holds values such as a 31.9% put-away rate and keeps hitters at a .162 batting average. He starts the pitch opposite from where he wants it, and the movement breaks at a 19.4-inch arm side horizontal run and 42.3-inch vertical drop.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Williams generates a good amount of defensive plays, responsible for 48.1% ground-outs in 2024 as well as 35.1% fly-outs.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Devin Williams brings versatility to the back end of the bullpen. He\u2019s been compared to pitchers such as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/search\/search.fcgi?pid=kellyjo05,kelly-008joe,kellyjo03,kellyjo04&amp;search=Joe+Kelly&amp;utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-12-14_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Joe Kelly<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/s\/snellbl01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-12-14_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Blake Snell<\/a> in terms of mechanics. The Yankees have found their stopper for 2025.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Photo Credit: \u00a9 Stan Szeto-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The New York Yankees have taken advantage of free agency with various transactions, including bringing in established right-handed closer Devin Williams. In return, the Yankees are sending infielder Caleb Durbin and pitcher Nestor Cortes to Milwaukee.\u00a0 Welcome to New York, Devin Williams! \ud83d\udd25 pic.twitter.com\/rtsex0MVUq \u2014 MLB (@MLB) December 13, 2024 It is safe to say [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5126,"featured_media":92082,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5,1071],"tags":[5566,4266,2562],"class_list":["post-92053","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-yankees","category-mlb","tag-clay-holmes","tag-devin-williams","tag-luke-weaver"],"modified_by":"Lewis Masella, Site Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92053","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5126"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=92053"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92053\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":92083,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92053\/revisions\/92083"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/92082"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=92053"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=92053"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=92053"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}