Gavin Williams Has Flipped the Narrative Surrounding His Pitching Profile

If you brought up Gavin Williams' name back in 2025, the first thing the average person would think of is walks.

Across 31 starts and 167.2 innings pitched, Williams allowed 83 players on the base paths via walk. Such a high clip was noticeable, and led to him being in some uncomfortable situations where high pitch counts led to him being pulled from contests early.

He only pitched into the seventh inning four times, something he has already done five times in 18 fewer starts in the 2026 season. Seeing such a drastic flip has been a major positive for Williams, showing that his ability to keep his pitches in the strike zone and avoid walking batters has worked wonders for his longevity.

And now, instead of being known as the pitcher who walks too many guys, he has shifted the narrative surrounding his name into being one of the league's most difficult arms to hit off of.

#Guardians pitcher Gavin Williams, who threw nine strikeouts and walked no one today, said that he jokes to himself about having less strikeouts than the opposing pitcher:

“I mean, I keep telling myself I'm stacking them [strikeouts] up. The other pitcher had more walks than me…
— Cade Cracas (@CracasCade) April 29, 2026

Through his 13 starts this year, he has allowed just 6.9 hits per nine innings and a measly .212 batting average against. He also has a 9-3 record, 3.20 ERA and 1.078 WHIP.

The most impressive part of his elite start? He has just 25 walks to an American League-leading 94 strikeouts. If he can keep this pace up, there's a realistic world where he is in the conversation for being a Cy Young candidate.

And the main reason why he has been so effective is his control of the baseball.

Heading into 2026, he had the third-highest walk rate among qualified starters in baseball, a mark that has been pushed back to the above-average percentile this season. Pointed out first by MLB.com, one of the major reasons why he has become so much more consistent has been his pitch arsenal growing.

In 2025, Williams threw his sinker 192 times, allowing a .233 batting average against clip. But in 2026, he has already thrown said pitch 197 times, showing a deeper confidence with it. It has allowed a bit of a higher batting average against at .236, but he has used it to put away batters 37.8% of the time.

He has also thrown his sweeper more, using it 319 times compared to just 583 across the entire 2025 campaign. This pitch is also on pace to sit at highly effective marks in both Whiff% and K%.

The only thing both he and the Guardians are looking for now is sustained consistency. Keeping himself ahead in counts and in control of at-bats is going to put him in the best spot to throw what he wants, giving him better opportunities to keep guys off base.

Making his 14th start of the season on Monday, June 8, Williams will be going up against a tough New York Yankees squad. Fortunately, he has already shown the ability to hold them at bay.

Gavin Williams goes up against a Yankee's lineup that has struggled since the start of June. His 29% K is good for 7th best among qualified SPs

Does he claim the title as the first man to 10 wins in 2026? pic.twitter.com/R8MbhphnbZ
— Baseball Unstitched (@BaseUnstitched) June 8, 2026

Back on June 3, he threw 5.1 innings against the Yankees on the road in the Bronx, striking out six batters and allowing four hits and two walks along the way. He did give up three earned runs, but his efforts were good enough to help guide the Guardians to an upset win, 9-3.

The Guardians can only hope that an outing like that can be replicated or improved upon back at home from Progressive Field.

The two sides will clash at 6:40 p.m. EST to begin a three-game set in Cleveland.

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