CLEVELAND -- Gavin Williams had a pretty good idea that he was going to start one of the Guardians’ first postseason games during the American League Wild Card Series against the Tigers at Progressive Field.
But when pitching coach Carl Willis approached the big right-hander on Monday afternoon to inform him he would be taking the ball in Game 1 on Tuesday, Williams almost didn’t know how to react.
“I was kind of starstruck a little bit,” Williams said. “Just being able to start a playoff game, it's phenomenal. Them trusting me to go Game 1, it's unbelievable.”
Tanner Bibee will start Game 2, and Slade Cecconi is slated to pitch Game 3, should the series go the distance. It keeps each guy on normal rest.
The Game 1 nod is well-deserved for Williams, whose breakout this summer was one of the most important developments for the Guardians on their path to winning the AL Central. In his third big league season, Williams made 31 starts and recorded a 3.06 ERA and 173 strikeouts in 167 2/3 innings, all of which are new career highs.
Williams took a massive jump from 2024, when he was sidelined until July due to right elbow inflammation and had a bumpy few months (4.86 ERA in 16 starts) upon returning. He made one start in the postseason, in Game 4 of the ALCS against the Yankees, and otherwise was on Cleveland’s roster as a reliever.
“I was just lucky last year to be on the playoff roster,” Williams said. “There's numerous guys that could have been on there besides me. But I went into the offseason with one thing on my mind, and that was to get better and help out the team in any way I could possibly do this year.”
But the story of Williams’ campaign goes beyond his development year over year. He made tremendous strides in-season. In 12 starts after the All-Star break, he recorded a 2.18 ERA, a 1.05 WHIP and 78 strikeouts (each ranking first among Guardians starters) in 70 1/3 innings.
Williams struggled with his command early on this season, and he labored through outings with elevated pitch counts. In 11 starts through May, he made it six innings just three times. In 19 starts before the All-Star break, he had a respectable 3.70 ERA, but also an MLB-leading 57 walks.
Williams tinkered with his mechanics and arsenal on the fly this season. He changed the position at which he holds his glove, which he said gives his arm more length and benefits his ability to locate his pitches. He added a sinker to his arsenal (which he had never thrown) and reintroduced a cutter -- which he threw in 2024, but did not feature this season until his fifth start, on April 21 against the Yankees.
The idea was to keep opponents from sitting on his four-seamer, Williams’ most-used offering that opponents hit .307 against through June. With two additional fastballs to account for, opponents hit just .235 against his four-seamer after the All-Star break, compared to .257 against his sinker and .357 against his cutter.
As he has continued to learn how to best deploy his pitch mix in an evolving arsenal, he has increasingly been a force in the Guardians’ rotation.
“Obviously, he has velocity, but now he has three velocity pitches with different profiles, and it just makes it hard [on hitters],” Willis said. “Not necessarily swing decisions, but how to swing -- not knowing if you're swinging at a pitch that's going to have ride, [a pitch] that's going to have ride and cut or [a pitch] that's going to have less ride and some separation horizontally as well.”
Willis informing Williams of the Game 1 nod was fitting. Both live in North Carolina, and they worked together closely during the offseason. Willis watched the early stages of Williams’ throwing program as they discussed technical things such as Williams standing tall on the mound to be more sound in his delivery.
Williams’ Game 1 nod is a culmination of his relentless work.
“From Day 1 when he was drafted [in the first round in 2021], you saw the potential and the power and the possibilities,” Willis said. “... It was just a matter of him learning who he is at a higher level, and then being able to have that confidence and go out and just trust himself to stay within himself and do what he does.”