CLEVELAND -- José Ramírez named Guardians starter Gavin Williams as MLB’s most underrated player earlier this week, noting through team interpreter Agustin Rivero he doesn’t think the big right-hander receives enough credit for his work on the mound.
Indeed, Williams has continued to be stellar for Cleveland. And with the way he has been following an upward trajectory, it may not be long before he’s continuously rated in the upper echelon of big league starting pitchers.
Williams has come out of the gates strong this season, on the heels of his dominant second half of 2025 in which he emerged as an anchor atop the Guardians’ starting rotation following an up-and-down first half. Through five starts this year, the 26-year-old has a 2.12 ERA, a 1.01 WHIP and 40 strikeouts with 17 walks in 29 2/3 innings.
Williams is set to take the ball on Friday in the Guardians’ series opener against the Blue Jays (7:07 p.m. ET on MLB.TV). Ahead of his outing, here are a few intriguing numbers reflecting his continued breakout for Cleveland.
2.16 ERA
Since after the All-Star break last year, Williams ranks second in MLB in ERA, among pitchers who have thrown at least 100 innings. He’s thrown exactly 100 innings in 17 starts over that span. Under that threshold, only one pitcher has logged a better ERA: Tarik Skubal.
Skubal, the back-to-back AL Cy Young Award winner, has a 2.15 ERA in 104 2/3 innings over 17 starts since the break last year. Williams is in elite company, and he’s surrounded by other big-time pitchers.
Under the same innings threshold, Williams’ ERA entering Thursday ranked directly ahead of the Phillies’ Cristopher Sánchez (2.26 ERA in 115 1/3 innings over 18 starts) and the Dodgers’ Yoshinobu Yamamoto (2.38 ERA in 102 innings over 16 starts).
13 hits
Williams’ five-pitch arsenal is led by a four-seam fastball that is averaging 96.7 mph this season. He has good stuff and has been tough to hit this year. Among pitchers who have made at least five starts, he’s tied with Paul Skenes (who has thrown 7 2/3 fewer innings) for the fewest hits allowed.
Williams led the Majors in walks in 2025, with 83, including 57 before the All-Star break. He’s issued 17 this season, including 11 between two starts (March 27 against the Mariners and on April 7 against the Royals). He has been able to work around them, but limiting them is key to him continuing to ascend.
“For Gavin, it’s just continuing to learn how to repeat it,” Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said this week. “Repeat, repeat, repeat. We've seen him really do that well since the second half of last year. There's going to be walks. We understand that, but minimizing those is going to be what leads to success for him.”
34.8 percent strikeout rate
Williams had a 24.6 percent strikeout rate in 2025 (ranked in the 65th percentile in MLB). Through five starts this year, he has a 34.8 percent strikeout rate (94th percentile). For context, Skubal led qualified starters in 2025 with a 32.2 percent strikeout rate.
Whether there is at least a tad of organic regression ahead for Williams this season with a larger sample size, he has been on a steady rise for some time now. He struck out 11 batters in his most recent start, on Saturday against the Orioles, and entered Thursday ranked fourth in the Majors with 40 punchouts this season.
He’ll look to keep climbing when he takes the mound Friday at Rogers Centre.