Devin Williams is not naive enough to think he is fully in the clear of any more rough games this season.
But he and the Yankees are at least hoping he may be through the worst of it, with Wednesday’s 4-3 win over the Padres offering the opportunity for a turning point after Williams’ biggest moment yet in pinstripes.
“I mean, I’m not going to say I’ll never have a bad outing again,” Williams said Wednesday night after leaving the bases loaded in the top of the 10th so the Yankees could walk it off in the bottom of the inning. “I just feel like myself. Taking ownership of the situation and since then, I’ve pitched with more confidence, continued to do that today.”
The “situation” was entering Wednesday’s outing with a 10.03 ERA across his first 14 appearances as a Yankee, at least temporarily losing the closer’s job along the way and acknowledging last month that he did not feel quite like himself.
That made Wednesday’s declaration notable, with Williams saying that he felt back to where he needed to be mentally and physically.
Devin Williams celebrates after escaping a 10th inning jam in the Yankees’ comeback win over the Padres on May 7, 2025.Corey Sipkin / New York Post
The righty reliever played with fire against the top of the Padres order, striking out Fernando Tatis Jr. and Manny Machado but walking Luis Arraez and hitting Jackson Merrill to load the bases.
But he got Xander Bogaerts into a full count and dropped a changeup below the zone for the huge third strikeout that ended the threat.
“Ghost runner, top of the order, what’s gone on here in the first month-plus — that takes a lot of guts to stand out there and just make pitch after pitch and continue to execute,” manager Aaron Boone said. “Hopefully, that’s another one in a handful that have been really good of late. Keep building.
Devin Williams throws a pitch during the 10th inning of the Yankees’ comeback win over the Padres in the series finale.IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
“We needed him, period.”
After the Yankees designated him for assignment Tuesday, Carlos Carrasco cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Thursday.
That keeps some important starting depth in the organization, even with Carrasco having struggled to a 5.91 ERA in 32 innings
Mark Leiter Jr. has not pitched since throwing 27 pitches Saturday, with every other reliever having thrown at least once (and five of them twice) since then.
But Boone said Wednesday that Leiter was not dealing with anything, which seemed to be confirmed by the righty warming up in the 10th inning before Williams got out of the jam.
Aaron Judge’s 32-game on-base streak came to an end Wednesday when he went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts.
He is still batting .400 with a 1.241 OPS through 37 games.
.
