Sitting at his locker in full uniform after yet another implosion, Devin Williams rested his chin on one hand and held his phone in the other on Friday night.
For over 20 minutes, the embattled reliever stared into his glowing screen, silent and solemn as members of the media waited to speak with him just a few feet away. It wasn’t until a reporter approached Williams that he snapped out of his entranced state and made his way over to the group.
“I’m not making pitches,” Williams said, his voice soft and littered with self-frustration. “It’s pretty simple. I stink right now.”
And yet, Aaron Boone still brought Williams in for the 10th inning of Friday’s 5-3, series-opening loss to the Astros.
It became immediately clear that the misplaced trust would backfire, as Williams’ first pitch was a wild one that advanced the ghost runner to third. Boos immediately broke out in the Bronx. More followed when Carlos Correa picked up a go-ahead single.
A few batters later, Taylor Trammell belted a two-run homer. At that point, plenty of folks raced for Yankee Stadium’s exits. Those who remained jeered some more.
“They give me the ball, I try and do my best,” Williams said before later adding, “Hopefully, the tide changes.”
Williams has struggled immensely in recent weeks and this season, allowing at least one earned run in eight of his last 14 games and posting a 5.73 ERA overall in his first year with the Yankees. Each of his last four outings have earned him a loss or a blown save.
Earlier this week, Boone removed the two-time National League Reliever of the Year from the closer’s job for the second time this season. But Friday marked the second time the manager brought Williams into a late, tied game since the most recent demotion.
Asked to explain why he would do that, Boone said that he wanted to stay away from David Bednar, who threw 42 pitches while recording a five-out save on Wednesday, and Mark Leiter Jr., who pitched on Tuesday and Wednesday. With a lane of right-handed hitters due up for Houston, Boone felt it best to use the right-handed Williams instead of lefties Tim Hill and Brent Headrick.
The skipper, who got only five innings from rookie starter Cam Schlittler on Friday, had already used Yerry De los Santos, Camilo Doval and Luke Weaver. Boone didn’t consider bringing Weaver back out for the 10th after he threw 19 pitches in the ninth and pitched Monday and Tuesday.
While Boone, whose Yankees were off on Thursday, admitted that Williams is struggling, he said, “You gotta use your guys.”
But Boone did not have to use Williams in that spot, nor should he be using him in any high-leverage situation right now. That should be obvious with Williams himself admitting that he’s not exactly self-assured.
“I’m not gonna say it’s as high as it’s ever been,” Williams said when asked if he feels confident. “Obviously not, the way that things have been going. But I just need to put some good ones together, get the ball rolling in the right direction.”
Williams, who has surrendered more earned runs this season than he did from 2022-2024 with Milwaukee, believes that he is “close” to being himself, but he added that he has never struggled to this extent in his life.
“It’s tough,” he said. “It’s not something I’m used to. I really haven’t struggled like this since probably 2018 coming back from [Tommy John surgery]. All I did then was continue to work and just try to help the team in any way I can.”
Asked who is helping him get through this low point in his career, the impending free agent said, “My family. That’s kind of where I’m at right now.”
Boone, meanwhile, said that he is “trying to find softer landing spots” for Williams, but those situations have been hard to come by with the Yankees playing lots of tight games and frequently getting short outings from their starters.
“You don’t always have the opportunity,” Boone continued. “So we’ll try and find good spots for him to get him back to being a big part of the pen, which he should be.”
The reality is that Williams just isn’t ready for meaningful moments, and the third-place Yankees can’t afford to keep pushing their luck with him, as they are barely hanging onto the American League’s third Wild Card spot.
The Guardians are a half-game behind them, while the Rangers are 1.5 games back.
But with time of the essence, Boone seems committed to giving Williams more chances to find a form that has eluded him. That did happen earlier in the year, as Williams recorded a 1.45 ERA from May 7 through the end of June while reclaiming the closer’s spot from an injured Weaver.
“He’s been through that already before,” Boone said, nodding to Williams’ early-season issues. “Hopefully we can kind of get him pulled out of this and get him throwing the ball like we know he’s capable of.
“He’s been through some struggles and come out on the other side and found some real consistency for a couple months. So hopefully he can draw on that as we move forward here.”
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