Gavin Williams Scatters Hits, Holds Reds in Check as Guardians Take Series at Home

Gavin Williams has allowed more hits than usual lately, but it hasn’t affected him much on the mound.

May 10, 2026; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Guardians starting pitcher Gavin Williams (32) throws a pitch duiring the first inning against the Minnesota Twins at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: David Dermer-Imagn Images | David Dermer-Imagn Images

It's hard to imagine Gavin Williams liked sitting an extra day before getting back out onto the mound.

Instead of getting the nod to start on Saturday, May 16, Williams' appearance on the mound in the series against the Cincinnati Reds was pushed back a day to Sunday, May 17. But when he was finally given a chance to get back out in front of the crowd at Progressive Field, the 26-year-old held the Reds in check.

He pitched through six innings, allowing eight hits, two earned runs and no walks, striking out a strong seven batters along the way.

"I thought Gavin was really good," Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said. "A little bit off at first, just with some command stuff, but couldn't get the sweeper going. But he and Patty stuck with it, and they got it going. I thought it was an excellent job by Gavin to get us through six..."

His performance on the mound was good enough to give the Guardians a win, 10-3, with the help of multiple home runs and extra-base hits along the way.

Williams' start to the 2026 MLB regular season was rocky, as he was allowing far too many walks than he liked. At one point, earlier in the year, he revealed that he was playing a game in his head to see if he could walk fewer batters than the opposing team's starting arm.

But while his walks have dropped game by game, the number of hits he has given up has increased greatly.

"I know I've got to clean some things up in the delivery," Williams said when reflecting on the changes in his hits and walks allowed. "Metrically, the pitches aren't where I want them to be. So I'm going to take a little dive into that and see what I can do."

Over his last three outings, including Sunday's, Williams has allowed over 26 hits, giving up 12 earned runs in the process. He has only given up three walks in that same span. When compared to the first three games of the year, a range where he gave up just five hits and four earned runs but walked 14 batters, it's obvious that whatever technical change he made is putting the ball in easier-to-hit areas.

"No, I think a little bit, the sweeper hasn't been as sharp as it was," Vogt said in response to a question asked if there is something technically different in Williams' game. "And so he's given up a few, he's getting BABIP'd, so to speak. I mean, they're not hitting him hard by any means. They're just kind of finding hits. Gavin kept them off the board..."

And while he's still striking out a strong percentage of the batters he is facing, Williams is struggling to avoid giving up knocks.

Fortunately, though, there's still plenty of season to go.

As he looks to continue fine-tuning the technical side of his game, Cleveland can rest easy knowing that the ebbs and flows of the settling-in process from Williams aren't causing too much turmoil for the team in the scoring column.

On the campaign, Williams' season ERA sits at 3.67, while his WHIP comes in at 1.19 and batting average against is now down to .225. He is up to a staggering 73 strikeouts.

The next time Williams is set to appear on the mound for the Guardians is Friday, May 22, when the team takes on the Philadelphia Phillies from Citizens Bank Park. The two sides will clash at 6:40 p.m. EST.