TAMPA — Devin Williams looks a little different now that he’s a Yankee. His signature pitch, however, remains the same.
The closer, acquired from the Brewers over the offseason, no longer sports a beard now that he has to comply with the Yankees’ grooming policy. The polarizing subject received rekindled attention on social media earlier this week when Williams shaved all but a mustache a day after reporting to spring training.
“Everyone’s got an opinion,” the 30-year-old said Saturday, “so it is what it is.”
Almost didn’t recognize Devin Williams without a beard today at Yankees Spring Training 🤣
(via @Yankees) pic.twitter.com/3nT905KfWZ
— MLB (@MLB) February 13, 2025
While Williams’ facial hair had some fans buzzing, his unique changeup, nicknamed The Airbender, was of more interest inside Yankees camp. The team got its first live look at the pitch on Friday when Williams threw to hitters at George M. Steinbrenner Field.
According to Matt Blake, the pitch looked “as advertised.”
“It’s a power changeup with a lot of spin, a lot of action,” the pitching coach told the Daily News. “He locates it really well. A lot of guys that have big movement like that struggle to locate it. And I think that’s kind of his superpower. He’s got a huge shape and he knows where to put it.”
Blake said that Yankees hitters — a group that included Ben Rice, Rafael Flores and Alex Jackson — were looking for the changeup. That allowed Williams’ fastball, which topped out at 97 mph, to play up.
“It was my first time standing behind that thing. It’s impressive,” Aaron Boone said of The Airbender. “But I also thought the fastball is in a really good place right now too. He was commanding it, had life to it. For the first time out against live hitters, he was really sharp.”
Devin Williams in today’s live BP: pic.twitter.com/UWmMYEos9N
— YES Network (@YESNetwork) February 14, 2025
Rice did not get to see the changeup when he was at the plate. However, he recently caught one of Williams’ bullpen sessions.
“It looks like a cue ball coming in,” the backstop said before adding that he had “mixed feelings” about not getting to hit against The Airbender.
When asked what makes Williams’ changeup so much better than others, Blake explained that the righty does an excellent job of top-spinning the ball, opposed to side-spinning it or cutting it.
“So it ends up being essentially a left-handed slider with how hard he spins it from that position,” Blake said. “Most guys can’t do that.”
The soft-spoken Williams said that the unique pitch has little to do with grip. Rather, it comes from his wrist flexion and arm angle.
“That’s all it takes,” Williams said, making it sound easy to throw one of baseball’s nastiest pitches.
Devin Williams, Airbender. 🛸
2842 RPMs. 23 inches of run. pic.twitter.com/zaQUNWtxRq
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) June 19, 2022
Having a closer with a unique pitch is nothing new for the Yankees, as Mariano Rivera’s cutter made him the best to ever do the job. Williams met The Sandman at an autograph signing event in New Jersey a few weeks ago, though they didn’t get to chat much.
Williams hopes another opportunity presents itself, as he’d like to pick Rivera’s brain now that he has the Hall of Famer’s old job.
“I’m sure he’ll be around here at some point,” Williams said. “He’s definitely somebody I want to learn from.”
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