Inside The Mets

Yankees' Devin Williams addresses pitch-tipping rumors after Mets playoff home run

New York Yankees closer Devin Williams opened up about rumors he was tipping pitches when conceding a home run to Pete Alonso in the 2024 playoffs.
Grant Young|
Oct 3, 2024; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Devin Williams (38) reacts in the ninth inning against the New York Mets during game three of the Wildcard round for the 2024 MLB Playoffs at American Family Field. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-Imagn Images
Oct 3, 2024; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Devin Williams (38) reacts in the ninth inning against the New York Mets during game three of the Wildcard round for the 2024 MLB Playoffs at American Family Field. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-Imagn Images | Benny Sieu-Imagn Images

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During the ninth inning of Game 3 of the New York Mets' NL Wild Card playoffs series against the Milwaukee Brewers, Pete Alonso stepped up to the plate against Devin Williams, who was then the Brewers' shut-down closer.

The Mets were down 2-0 with runners on first and third base, and Alonso worked a 3-1 count to Williams. Since Williams is best known for having arguably the best changeup in all of baseball (which he threw 45% of the time in the 2024 season), it wasn't a surprise to see him throw a changeup to Alonso, despite being down in the count.

However, this changeup was elevated. And Alonso parked it in the right field bleachers for a three-run home run that gave the Mets the 3-2 lead that propelled them to the Divisional Round.

Given how elite Williams is and how rare it is to see his best pitch crushed like that, there were rumors after the game that perhaps he was tipping his pitches that Alonso and the Mets had picked up on. Internet personality Jomboy posted a video on October 4 that showed what he believed to be Williams' tipping his pitches through his glove placement during his set position.

Williams was traded to the New York Yankees over the offseason. And a February 12 article from SNY's Andy Martino conveys Williams addressing these pitch-tipping rumors.

"I asked a Mets person then if the team did indeed have a tell on Williams; that person said that he had already asked Alonso directly, and Alonso had said he 'didn’t have anything' on Williams. I checked this week with a second well-placed source, who reiterated 'we didn’t,'" Martino wrote.

"On Wednesday, I relayed all of this to Williams, who countered with his own question.

“'I mean, if he did, is he really going to say yes?' Williams said. 'Are they going to tell you guys [in the media] that? Are they going to put that out? I don’t think so."

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Williams also added, “I didn’t think that [Alonso] did [have anything], no. I also didn't really watch the video. I saw a little bit of it. It was so slight. It doesn’t really matter if he did -- that’s on me for tipping pitches if he did. But I never looked at it that way.“

In discussing what went wrong with that fateful pitch to Alonso, Williams said, “I was trying to throw it away from him. Just a little bit too up, too much plate.”

For what it's worth, Martino reported that the Yankees, "did a deep dive on Williams before trading for him in December. They came out of it believing that he does not tip pitches."

Perhaps Williams will face Alonso again when the Mets and Yankees play from May 16-18. If they do, Williams will want to be extra careful with that changeup placement.

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Grant Young
GRANT YOUNG

Grant Young covers the New York Mets and Women’s Basketball for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco, where he also played Division 1 baseball for five years. He believes Mark Teixeira should have been a first ballot MLB Hall of Fame inductee.

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