Stephen Vogt Breaks Down Gavin Williams' Season-Best Outing in Win Over Orioles

Williams pitched one of his best games of the year, striking out 11 batters across seven innings of action on the mound.

Apr 16, 2026; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Guardians manager Stephen Vogt (12) walks on the field in the ninth inning against the Baltimore Orioles at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-Imagn Images | David Richard-Imagn Images

The Cleveland Guardians' starting rotation has continued to look better and better by the day.

Following Parker Messick's incredible eight-inning no-hitter on Thursday and Tanner Bibee's strong six innings of scoreless ball on Friday, Gavin Williams joined the fun on Saturday, April 18.

In a 4-2 win over the Baltimore Orioles at Progressive Field, Williams tossed through seven innings of action, allowing a measly three hits, one walk and one earned run, all while striking out an incredibly high mark of 11 batters. He's now up to a total strikeout count of 40 on the campaign, which leads the league.

Gavin Williams’ night sees ELEVEN strikeouts… incredible night for the #Guardians’ No. 1 option on the mound. #GuardsBall pic.twitter.com/LNfNgVpxan

— Cade Cracas (@CracasCade) April 19, 2026

When analyzing the pitches Williams threw, it's obvious to see that he is becoming more comfortable in expanding his arsenal and testing batters.

"That's as good a mix I think we've seen from him," Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said. "I thought the usage of both breaking balls, cutter, sinker, fastball, I thought Bo [Naylor] called a great game. He executed. It felt like he pitched with his spin tonight and really surprised them with fastballs. That was unbelievable."

Williams threw 100 total pitches on Saturday night, with 37 of them being his sweeper, 29 of them being his four-seamer and 27 being his curveball. While those dominated the strike zone, he also added in a sinker six times and a cutter once. He didn't allow a single hit off of his four-seamer or sweeper.

His curveball was one of the more effective pitches of the bunch, coming in at an average velocity of 83.5 mph. It minimized at 80.7 mph and maximized at 85.6 mph.

That's up 0.3 mph from his yearly average. It also resulted in four of his 11 strikeouts.

"He was throwing strikes," Vogt said about Williams' ability to limit walks. "I mean, I think, you know, he was filling up the zone. He was getting ahead, and I don't even think there were too many three-ball counts tonight. I mean, he was super efficient, a lot of punch-outs, which – Usually that means higher pitch count, but that wasn't the case tonight.

"He was finishing guys right away."

But even though Williams is pitching at an incredibly efficient rate, especially over the last few games, Vogt wants to see him continue to work and grow.

"Just keep working," he said. "And Gavin's a hard worker, and he wants to be great. And I think that's a dangerous combination."

Williams will next be on the mound on Friday, April 24, in a road matchup against the Toronto Blue Jays.

The last time he pitched against the Blue Jays was on May 3, 2025, when he pitched through seven innings and struck out nine batters. He gave up seven hits and two earned runs, but was able to keep the Guardians in the game as they would go on to win, 5-3.

With how well he is playing to start 2026, there's a chance that his efforts from roughly a year ago can be replicated, if not maybe even a bit better.