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Coming into the 2025 MLB regular season, one of the strengths of the New York Yankees ' roster was expected to be their bullpen. They lost veteran Tommy Kahnle in free agency to the Detroit Tigers but were able to re-sign Tim Hill. To help offset the loss of Kahnle, they made a major splash on the trade market, acquiring Devin Williams from the Milwaukee Brewers in exchange for starting pitcher Nestor Cortes and prospect Caleb Durbin.
It was a move that the Yankees were lauded for, with the talented right-handed pitcher being arguably the best reliever in baseball. Williams has been untouchable since breaking into the Major Leagues. During his first full season in 2020, when he won the National League Rookie of the Year Award with a 0.
33 ERA in 27 innings with 53 strikeouts. His dominance did not stop there, making the All-Star team twice and being named the Trevor Hoffman Reliever of the Year two times. In his tenure with the Brewers, he had a 1.
83 ERA across 235.2 innings with 375 strikeouts. His H/9 was a minuscule 4.
9 and making hard contact against him was virtually impossible with a 0.6 HR/9 ratio. Fans dreamed of him closing out games with Luke Weaver in front of him as the setup man, giving New York one of the best duos at the end of their bullpen in the MLB.
Alas, those dreams haven’t materialized, with Williams providing the fan base with nightmares instead. He has been disastrous with his new team. -0.
7 WAR has been produced across 9.0 innings with a 10.00 ERA.
Williams has given up 12 hits and issued seven walks, resulting in 12 runs being scored against him, 10 of them earned, with only nine strikeouts. That has led to manager Aaron Boone removing him from the closer’s role , for now, turning things over to Weaver at the end of games. This will give Williams a chance to gain his confidence back, working in lower-leverage situations.
That has all culminated in the Yankees’ newest bullpen addition being selected as one of the biggest disappointments in the MLB thus far this season. “Whoa. You can't help but wonder whether Alonso broke Williams with that home run in last October's wild-card series between the Brewers and Mets.
.. It seems inexplicable that an elite closer such as Williams could lose it like this, but that has been the case -- and it's worth noting that Cleveland's Emmanuel Clase, who also struggled this past postseason, has already allowed more earned runs than he did in all of 2024,” wrote David Schoenfield of ESPN .
The Yankees are fortunate that they had an elite reliever to turn to in Weaver, who has been on the opposite end of the production spectrum from Williams and is yet to allow a run this season. This certainly isn’t how anyone saw things playing out for the team, as they remain hopeful that the two-time All-Star will be able to return to the closer’s role eventually. More Yankees On SI.
