Is Gavin Williams a key component to Cleveland’s post-season hopes?

PHOENIX, Ariz. – Pundits cite two essential elements in driving a team’s success. Pitching and defense represent the core of any triumph and catalyst toward a championship season. In right-hander Gavin Williams, the Cleveland Guardians could have a pitcher who exhibits the success of a role that is essentially lost in the game and who has the potential to carry Cleveland to glory.

While the Guardians engage in that quest for postseason grandeur, their fortunes could depend on Williams’ right arm. After dispatching the Arizona Diamondbacks 3-1 before 16,815, the second smallest crowd this season in Chase Field on August 18, Williams made a convincing argument on two levels.

First, his command performance in the desert enabled the Guardians to remain close in their American League wild-card quest. Second, Williams, a 26-year-old out of Fayetteville, N. C., made the argument for a term nearly forgotten in the recent chronology of the game. After Cleveland was swept by Atlanta at home and then flew to Phoenix to begin a six-game road trip, Williams was handled the ball by manager Stephen Vogt and responded as “the stopper.”

That’s regarded as a rather important role and in light of struggles to maintain ground with the New York Yankees. With the win over Arizona and the Bombers idle on Aug 18, Cleveland moved to within three games of the final American League wild-card spot

While Williams has the respect and value of his teammates, there remains a significant flaw and that is his inability to gain a first-pitch strike. In that victory over Arizona, he managed only seven first-pitch strikes of the 22 hitters faced. Only twice in his 5.1 innings did he manage first-pitch strikes on consecutive hitters. That was against Geraldo Perdomo and Ketel Marte in the third inning and Corbin Carroll and Lourdes Gurriel, Jr. in the sixth.

Still, Williams, who increased his season mark to 8-4 and lowered his ERA to 3.24, surrendered only four hits, walked one, and struck out five in his latest outing.

“I would not say that’s a concern,” said catcher Bo Naylor of Williams’ tendency to get behind hitters early in the count. “In a perfect world, that could be something to make a little bit of a focal point. He’s always trying to get better, and if that’s the case, and to have an outing (against Arizona), it shows just how good a pitcher really is. Kudos to him for not matter the count, no matter the situation, he’s going out, trying to make good pitches and get outs for the boys.”

At the top of the Cleveland rotation, Williams commands a significant role. Not only does manager Stephen Vogt trust his ability to keep the Guardians in every game, but Williams shows top-shelf stuff. In that victory over Arizona, he consistently hit the radar gun in the mid and upper 90s. His effective curve and sweeper keep hitters off balance and set up a fast ball that shows more than the velocity flashed in the scoreboard.

Williams is the first to recognize that tendency to fall behind early and offers a simple explanation.

“That’s just the way (the Arizona win) shook out,” Williams said afterward. “I do need to be better in game-to-game with (landing a first-pitch strike), and it will be better.”

Over the course of the season, his inability to command the strike zone early in counts has shortened outings. For a power pitcher like Williams, length and longevity are issues. At this point, these can be terribly important because the speed of his fast ball and effectiveness of secondary pitches may not always play well.

Earlier this season, the command played out in a game at Citi Park on Aug. 8. In an eventual 4-1 over the Mets, Williams came within two outs of Cleveland’s first no-hitter in 41 years. That’s when Juan Soto tagged the right-hander for a one-out homer and ended the bid.

Still, Williams emerged as the principal starter at the top of the Cleveland rotation and, rather reluctantly, assumed that “stopper role.”

”I think that’s for all of the pitchers,” Williams said in reference to the stopper. “We all want to do that, and no matter how many games we play. I feel like all pitchers want to get that W no matter what.”

Elsewhere in baseball –  before the series opener with Cleveland on Aug. 18, Arizona Diamondbacks’ second baseman Ketel Marte stepped out of his recent decision to remain silent. Three issues have recently face the Arizona all-star. One was an emotional response with a fan in Wrigley Field that referenced his mom, who died in an auto accident in 2017. Then, there was the alleged break-in of his home in Scottsdale, Arizona, and an incident where Marte left the team after the All Star game, returned to his native Dominican Republic, and missed an important team workout.

Addressing the media in front of his locker, Marte was contrite and apologized to his teammates.

“I can’t control the outsiders,” Marte said through an interpreter. “Sometimes, the criticism helped me to be more motivated. I’ve said many times before that my goal here is to help this team win. I have a sincere apology for missing practice but like I said, I’m here to be win and be productive.”

In a 3-1 loss to Cleveland afterward, Marte returned to the Arizona lineup and went 1-for 5 with a leadoff double in the eighth. The two-bagger was the only extra-base hit the Arizona offense could generate against four Guardians pitchers.

The post Is Gavin Williams a key component to Cleveland’s post-season hopes? first appeared on Through The Fence Baseball.

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