Williams (1-2) came away with the win in Wednesday's extra-inning contest against the Padres, allowing one walk while striking out three batters in a scoreless 10th inning. He did not allow a hit.
With Luke Weaver being deployed in the ninth inning, the Yankees turned to Williams in the 10th to keep the game tied at 3-3. Williams struck out two of the first three batters he faced, and after loading the bases on a hit-by-pitch, he closed things out with a six-pitch punchout of Xander Bogaerts. Williams has started the season poorly with a 9.24 ERA across 12.2 innings, but he's been unscored upon in four of his five outings since being removed from the closer role.
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Yankees' Devin Williams: Picks up hold Friday
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Williams earned a hold against Tampa Bay on Friday with a perfect inning of relief during which he struck out one batter.
Williams' effort Friday was another positive step forward after a brutal start to the campaign. Williams threw seven of his eight pitches for strikes against the Rays and extended his scoreless and hitless streak to three games since he was demoted from the closer role April 27. His outing Friday was in a relatively high-leverage situation -- the Yankees led by three in the eighth inning when he entered -- and was followed by a clean inning by Luke Weaver, who picked up his third save. Weaver has been dominant all season, so there's likely no urgency for Williams to reclaim New York's closer role, but the latter is at least looking like himself again after posting a 11.25 ERA through his first 10 appearances prior to his demotion.
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Yankees' Devin Williams: Pitches clean inning in relief
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Williams struck out one batter in a scoreless inning in Monday's 4-3 loss to the Orioles.
Yankees manager Aaron Boone announced Sunday that Williams was being temporarily removed as the team's closer after the right-hander gave up three earned runs in consecutive appearances. Williams got a chance to work in a lower-leverage situation Monday, as New York trailed by one in the eighth inning when he entered the game. He had little trouble dispatching of the three Orioles batters he faced, needing 14 pitches (nine strikes) to retire the side in order. If Williams is able to smooth things out and put together a string of effective outings, he could move back into the closer role in due time.
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Yankees' Devin Williams: Temporary role change likely
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The Yankees appear to be making a temporary change at closer after Williams squandered a 2-1 lead in the ninth inning Friday against Toronto, Andy Martino of SNY.tv reports. "We'll see," manager Aaron Boone said when asked if Williams would benefit from moving to lower-leverage situations. "We'll kind of talk through this stuff. This is raw right now. We want to do everything we can to get him right, because we know how good he is and how valuable he is going to be for us."
While Friday's blown save was Williams' first of the season, he has now allowed six earned runs in his last two appearances and sits with an 11.25 ERA through his first 10 appearances in pinstripes. Boone stopped short of announcing a role change, but Martino says there is virtually no way the skipper would have answered the questions the way he did "if he hadn't already decided to give Williams a break from save situations." Luke Weaver took well to the ninth-inning role down the stretch last season and has pitched brilliantly so far in 2025, making him the clear-cut favorite for saves while Williams tries to figure things out in lower-leverage spots.
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Yankees' Devin Williams: Demoted from closer role
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Manager Aaron Boone announced Sunday that Williams has been removed from the closer role "for right now," Brendan Kuty of The Athletic reports.
The writing was on the wall after Williams blew his first save of the season Friday against Toronto, which was the second straight appearance in which he allowed three earned runs. The right-hander has yet to truly look like himself in 10 outings with the Yankees and has an 11.25 ERA and 8:7 K:BB across eight innings. New York presumably plans to return Williams to the closer job at some point this year, but he'll need to right the ship in a lesser role before getting that opportunity. Luke Weaver, who took over as the Yankees' closer down the stretch last season, has yet to allow a run through 11 outings this year and could get the bulk of the save chances in the meantime.
Williams (0-2) took the loss after blowing the save Friday against the Blue Jays, giving up three runs on two hits in the ninth inning. He did not record an out.
Williams was brought in for the ninth inning to protect a 2-1 lead. After giving up a single and hitting Andres Gimenez with a pitch, Williams surrendered that lead when Alejandro Kirk doubled to center field. Williams was tagged for a third run after being lifted. Friday marked Williams' first blown save opportunity but the second game in a row in which he gave up three earned runs. He has an 11.25 ERA and 2.38 WHIP over eight innings, and more outings like Friday's could lead to a change in who takes on closing duties out of the Yankees' bullpen.
Yankees' Devin Williams: Tallies fourth save Thursday
Rotowire
Williams earned the save after throwing a clean ninth inning in Thursday's 6-3 win over the Rays.
While he didn't record a strikeout, Williams put the Rays away on just six pitches (five strikes) Thursday. The All-Star closer has been shaky at times to begin his Yankees tenure, as evidenced by his 5.14 ERA, 1.86 WHIP and 8:6 K:BB over seven innings, but Williams is unscored upon in his past four outings and has still converted each of his first four save chances as New York's closer.
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Yankees' Devin Williams: Logs third save
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Williams earned the save in Tuesday's 4-2 win over the Royals, striking out one batter in a scoreless ninth inning.
Williams got the call to come into the ninth inning to protect a 4-2 lead. He needed 16 pitches (11 of which were strikes) to get through the frame, finishing things off by punching out MJ Melendez to record his third save of the season. Williams has not given up a run over his last three outings and has struck out three batters while allowing two hits and two walks in those three innings.
Williams allowed a hit and a walk in a scoreless inning while earning a save against the Royals on Monday.
Williams entered the ninth inning with a 4-1 lead and had to work out of a jam to close things out. He put two runners on base with one out but escaped unscathed with his first save since March 27. Through six appearances as a Yankee, Williams has yet to deliver a perfect inning out of the bullpen. He owns an uncharacteristic 7.20 ERA with a 7:6 K:BB through five innings.
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Yankees' Devin Williams: Gets bailed out Wednesday
Rotowire
Williams gave up three runs on two hits and two walks over two-thirds of an inning in Wednesday's 4-3 win over the Tigers. He struck out two.
Brought in to protect a 4-0 lead in the ninth inning, Williams instead made a mess of things before Mark Leiter had to replace him and record the final out for his first save of the year. While it doesn't go down as a blown save or a loss for the Airbender, it's still the third time in his first four appearances as a Yankee that Williams has been charged with at least one run, leading to a 12.00 ERA and 5:4 K:BB through his first three innings in pinstripes. The average velocity on his fastball is down slightly to begin the season, but he topped out at 95.3 mph Wednesday on a strikeout of Colt Keith, and the movement on his elite changeup is in its usual range. All indicators suggest that Williams' numbers will quickly return to normal once the weather warms up.
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