CLEVELAND, Ohio —Gavin Williams has quietly transformed into one of baseball’s most intriguing young pitchers, and Monday’s dominant performance against Arizona was just the latest evidence that Cleveland may have found their future ace.
After a rough outing against the Marlins that had some questioning his stamina following his near no-hitter against the Mets, Williams bounced back with 5 1/3 scoreless innings, five strikeouts, and just four hits allowed against the Diamondbacks. It wasn’t just that he won — it was “how” he won.
“Five and a third innings last night, scoreless innings, five strikeouts, four hits,” noted Paul Hoynes, cleveland.com Guardians beat reporter, during the latest Cleveland Baseball Talk Podcast. “When he’s on, he does not give up runs. I mean, we’ve seen it time and time again, you know, 5, 6, 7 innings where he really dominates the opposition.”
What makes Williams’ development so fascinating is his continuous evolution as a pitcher. This isn’t just a hard-thrower finding his way — this is a pitcher actively expanding his arsenal mid-season.
“Adding pitches, refining his delivery, you know, working on things during the year. It’s a really special sort of package that he’s put together since the start of the season,” explained Joe Noga on the podcast.
Perhaps most impressive is Williams’ mastery of one particular skill that separates good pitchers from great ones: getting ground balls. Since June, Williams has posted a 49.5% ground ball rate, a dramatic improvement that stems largely from his enhanced curveball usage.
“He’s thrown that curveball a lot more, I think, and that leads to softer contact, more contact on the ground. I think that’s really helped him,” Hoynes observed.
But the most eye-popping statistic might be Williams’ absolute dominance against left-handed hitters—the very batters who typically give right-handed pitchers trouble.
“Lefties are hitting .142 against him, Joe. Right handers are hitting over .280,” Hoynes revealed during the podcast discussion. “So, you know, there’s still that kind of an extreme there. But he has really dominated left handed hitters.”
This isn’t just about one good start. Since early June, Williams has been showcasing ace-level performance with remarkable consistency. His development of three different fastball profiles has allowed him to keep hitters off-balance and generate weak contact, making him increasingly efficient.
The evolution is even more impressive considering Williams is still in his first full big league season. With approximately six starts remaining in 2024, fans and analysts alike are eager to see how he finishes.
“He’s had a really solid year, a good solid year and it should get better,” said Hoynes. “He’s probably got about six more starts left. I’m really anticipating or anxious to see what he’ll do going down the stretch here.”
What makes Williams’ performance so crucial is its timing — the Guardians remain in the thick of the wild card race, just three games back. Every dominant start from Williams strengthens their playoff chances.
The curve that dives “off the table,” the three fastball profiles, the dominance against lefties—these elements combine to form what could be the most exciting young pitcher Cleveland has developed in years.
Want to hear more about Gavin Williams’ development and the Guardians’ playoff push? Listen to the full Cleveland Baseball Talk Podcast for complete analysis from Joe Noga and Paul Hoynes as they break down what makes Williams so special and how he fits into Cleveland’s present and future plans.
Podcast transcript
Joe Noga: Welcome back to the Cleveland Baseball Talk Podcast. I’m Joe Noga, joined by Paul Hoynes. Hoynsie, the Guardians get back on track, snap a three game losing streak in the series opener against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field. Powered by CJ Kayfas and Brian Rocchio. The bottom of the lineup getting work done for the Guardians on Monday. Just, you know, what you see that you liked out of Kayfus and Rocchio at the plate and really that was about it because the last 14 hitters were retired by Diamondbacks pitching on the Cleveland side.
Paul Hoynes: Yeah, Joe was, you know, you got to like what Kaifas did. That was, you know, he, he hammered that ball. I mean, both those balls werehit. Rocchio and Kaifas did a nice job, you know, coming out of what, like you said, the what, the seventh and the ninth spot in the lineup. And they, they definitely needed that. That was a good win after getting swept by Atlanta. And Gavin Williams in the bullpen made it stand up.
Joe Noga: Yeah, Kayfus over the weekend, I think he had gone 1 for 8 in the series against Atlanta. And Stephen Vogt, how, you know, towards the end of that series they started to see some at bats that were more like what they expect out of him. He struggled against Miami and, you know, said he hadn’t really seen arms like Miami was able to throw at him that had this, the kind of stuff that Those pitchers had, 100 mile an hour, you know, cutters and things like that. So, you know, making the adjustment coming back. He said Cavis got sped up a little bit at the plate and looked like he had a nice smooth, easy swing off of Zach Gallen there in the second inning yesterday. But Rocchio, you know, we’ve actually seen that before against Gallen. Rocchio was what, 19, 20 years old when he was in spring training facing Zach Gallen and homer did the opposite field off of him.
Paul Hoynes: Yeah, definitely you, you know, Andre not asked, asked, you know, Rokio after the game about it and he said, of course I remember that. I remember every home run I’ve hit. And you know, that was his third home run he’s hit since, you know, coming back since July 1st, Joe, when he was recalled from AAA, he’s, you know, he’s, he’s played really well. You know, he’s made the move to second base without complaining. And he’s, you know, you can tell he’s, he’s starting to feel more comfortable there and he’s swinging the bat well from the bottom of the lineup. Well, he’s hitting, I think. 286 since his return. You know, 12, 13 RBIs. You’re done doing a nice job. You know, he’s cut, you know, he’s still, you know, he’s still kind of a swing first guy. He’s not, I don’t think he’s ever going to walk a whole lot. But you know, right now he’s making contact, he’s getting hits and you know, he’s helping, turning that lineup over.
Joe Noga: Yeah, and you can just see as a, as a complete hitter, he’s, he’s really developing and the ball really has been jumping off his bat lately. So a lot of good stuff that we’re seeing out of Brian Rocco, a lot of good stuff that we saw on the mound out of Gavin Williams. Sort of a bounce back game for him after getting roughed up by the Marlins in his previous start. You go back two starts to when he, you know, threw the near no hitter against the Mets, threw 126 pitches. A lot was made about, you know, whether he was fatigued or tired going into his, his next start against the Marlins. He came out on, on Monday and, and pretty much showed that, you know, the Marlins outing was the outlier that was the anomaly there. Gavin Williams back to the, the form that we see or that we’ve seen since, really since the start of June. And he’s, he’s in stretches, been, been dominant.
Paul Hoynes: Yeah, five and a third innings last night, scoreless innings, five strikeouts, four hits. Joe, he’s, he’s had a lot of starts like that where he is, you know, when, when he’s on, he does not give up runs. I mean, we’ve seen it time and time again, you know, 6, 5, 6, 7 innings where, you know, he really dominates the opposition. The only thing that really gets him into trouble is maybe, you know, one too many walks or he has a, you know, a long at bat against a certain hitter. But he, other than that, he has been really, he’s had a really solid year, a good solid year and it should get better. Joe, I mean, what’s he got, 24, 25 starts? He’s probably got about six more starts left. I’m really anticipating or anxious to see what he’ll do going down the stretch here.
Joe Noga: Yeah, looking forward to seeing how he finishes out the season. It’s just everything that he’s been able to accomplish this year. Adding pitches, refining his delivery, you know, working on things during the year. It’s a really special sort of package that he’s put together. Since the start of the season. And really the stuff is what’s helped him. We’ve seen him add, you know, three different fastball, fastball profiles to, you know, to get hitters to hit the ball on the ground. He’s got a 49.5% ground ball rate since, since the start of June and that’s, that’s really impressive. He’s also been dominant against left handed hitters. You think you can go in there and throw a bunch of lefties in the lineup. And this is a guy who’s, you know, the profiles of his fastballs now he gets weak contact. He’s getting, he’s getting through innings faster. And we’ve seen that in the last, you know, two out of the last three outings, at least.
Paul Hoynes: Yeah, lefties are hitting.142 against him, Joe. Right handers are hitting.280 over.280. So, you know, there’s still that kind of an extreme there. But he has really dominated left handed hitters. And you know, I like the fact that you brought up the ground ball rate. You know, he’s thrown that curveball a lot more, I think, you know, and that leads to, you know, softer contact, more contact on the ground. I think that’s really helped him.
Joe Noga: Yeah, it’s been, not just that he’s throwing it more, it’s been a really good curveball. It dives off the, off the table and guys are, guys are just flailing at it and topping it into the ground. And that’s how he’s getting some of these, these really good ground ball rates. And you know, we mentioned Rocco, Rocco and Arias up the middle. We saw them last night make a couple of plays at the bag and the defense was again, really solid. Sort of the opposite of the way they played on Sunday. They made outs when they needed to and got the plays taken care of. The ball wound up where it needed to be against a team like Arizona that, that has some guys at the top that can really go. You’re talking about Geraldo Perdomo, Cattel Marte, Corbin Carroll. These are some of the best baserunners in the National League. So, you know, when the ball winds up where it’s supposed to be. Gavin Williams looks pretty good.
Paul Hoynes: Yeah, and it was good to see that vote put the, his best line, you know, the best middle of the middle of the lineup, middle of the diamond lineup back out there. You know, I’m not taking anything away from Angel Martinez, but it’s good, you know, if you want, if you want Darius and Rocco to develop, play them, you know, play them out there. There’s 30, there’s 38 games left. They can handle it. They’re both young and strong. Let them, let them play together and get their timing down.
Joe Noga: Also really good to see when Gavin Williams did get himself into a situation in the sixth inning with runners on the corners, it, it didn’t take long for Stephen Vogt to go to Eric Zabrowski. He came in in a tight spot, got two huge outs, you know, one with a strikeout. Zabrowski, since coming back from, from injury, looks really sharp out there. And now, I don’t know, is there a, is there a word for fireman in, in Canada? Because Kate Smith was the fireman for, you know, for so long when they had Emanuel Class A closing games. Now Smith has sort of graduated to that role. So they put another Canadian fireman out there in, in Eric Zabrowski. I don’t know the, the state police are the Mounties in Canada. I don’t know what the, what the firefighters are in, you know, north of the border, but Eric Zabrowski is the Canadian fireman of the moment. He came in in that spot and got two big outs. I handed it off to Matt Festa, Hunter Gaddis, and they got the ball to Cade Smith. Smith gives up the RBI triple with two outs in the ninth, but, you know, recovers to get the strikeout of Cattel Marte. Just, you know, what’d you see out of the bullpen last night?
Paul Hoynes: Yeah, I really like Zabrowski. I mean, you think about this guy’s path to, to Cleveland, two Tommy John surgeries. He comes up late last season, really helps him down the stre jumps in there. He’s a big, strong left hander. He’s getting people out, pitches really well in the post season, then hurts his elbow. This spring. You know, everyone was going into spring training, everyone was pointing to this guy being a big part of the bullpen, but because of an elbow problem, he has to open the season on the il and we don’t see him for a long time, but he’s jumped right back into that role of the late inning leverage guy. And, and when you say fireman Joe, you know, I think you mean where wherever there’s a fire breaks out, you know, no matter what inning he comes in and, and puts, you know, extinguishes it. So, you know, I think he’s done a really great job with that. And those two pinch hitters he faced, what in the, I believe in the, the sixth inning they had no chance against him. He, he threw, he threw fastballs up in the zone. You overmatched them.
Joe Noga: Yeah, he was hitting the top rail, as, as Vogt likes to say, with that fastball, the top of the strike zone. And then I think the second hitter, Ildemaro Vargas, he started after, after three fastballs to, you know, the first pinch hitter. He, he hits Vargas with a, breaks off a slider to start him off and you know, he had no chance against it. So it was, it was fun to watch, you know, Zabrowski go to work and, you know, he’s a fun guy. After the, after the game, he’s, you know, talking to him, he just had a really good approach and you know, just talking about going out there and as a whole, as a group, the bullpen getting the job done and you could tell he was real happy with that. Guardians 3 games back in the wild card chase. Right now, the three teams ahead of them, the Yankees, Red Sox and Mariners, all with the same winning percentage. So really they’re, they’re as close to the top spot in the wild card as they are to the bottom spot in the wild card in one of those three spots. So kind of a weird situation still eight and a half games out in the AL Central, Joe.
Paul Hoynes: They really have to keep, they have a chance here to, you know, they were playing against Arizona, a team that, you know, had a fire sale at the trade deadline. Then you go to Texas, a team that’s struggling, that, you know, was in the wild card and was, has great starting pitching, Joe, but, you know, has struggled of late. I think they’re on a, you know, a losing streak. So you, they’ve got a chance to make up some ground here to get in, you know, get even closer to the, to the wild card race and maybe edge into that third spot. But they’ve got to keep playing good baseball, Joe. They’ve got to, you know, build on last night’s win, put the weekend sweep by the Braves behind them. So, you know, it’s really, it’s going to be, this is an interesting stretch of baseball. This is going to decide, you know, just how far they can advance, I.
Joe Noga: Think, and we’ll get to see, we’ll likely get to see a new face in the rotation or at least making a spot start on Wednesday for the getaway game. All signs, all indications point to Parker Messick, the Young left hander, 2022 draft pick from the second round out of Florida State. He, he, he could be the guy that they decide to start on Wednesday. You know, haven’t gotten confirmation from that, but just by being around the clubhouse and being around the team, all signs indicate that Messick is going to be the guy called up to make his major league debut on Wednesday. Tonight, no small task for Tanner Bybey and the Guardians as they face Eduardo Rodriguez. This is a guy who’s what, seven and oh, in nine career starts against the the Guardians.
Paul Hoynes: This is the lefty that haunts their dreams, Joe. No matter what team he faces for, no matter what team he plays for, he always seems to face the Guardians and he always seems to come out one step ahead of him.
Joe Noga: Yeah, this is the guy that sort of in my mind started the whole, hey, Cleveland can’t beat left handers thing. This is, this is who you were talking about when, when you said that, you know, at least for the, the last several years, like you said. I remember games against him when he pitched for Chicago where he just, you know, owned the Guardians and it was really a struggle. Just. Why do you think that is? Is it just one guy has, has the ability to have like such a hold over one team like that?
Paul Hoynes: Yeah, I think he has an array of pitches, Joe. He doesn’t just throw hard, but he throws a lot of breaking balls. And against young teams which the Guardians usually have, you know, kind of a young lineup, he really, you know, he can take advantage of that. It’s going to be interesting to see how he does against Cleveland tonight. They certainly have, you know, a lot of information on him. They’ve seen him before. I mean, when he pitched for Detroit, it seemed like he, every time the Guardians played the Tigers, he had, he would make at least one start. Why? He could only make one start, but he never missed a turn when Cleveland came to town.
Joe Noga: Yeah, it’s. Oh, it’s funny how that sort of started the whole idea of teams rearranging their schedule for Cleveland to make sure that they loaded up and faced as many lefties as possible. Last season they sort of reversed the narrative on that. They were really successful against left handers, but you know, this year it’s right back to the same old story.
Paul Hoynes: Yeah, I think they were 23 and seven against left handed starters last year. Some it was really a good number and they, it’s kind of upticked a little bit, joel. The last 10, 12 starts against lefties, they’ve done a little better against them. But Rodriguez is going to be a test for sure.
Joe Noga: Yeah, it’s, you know, going to be interesting to see around the league a little bit. Last night would it would it shock you if I told you that Tommy Pham got in another fight last night? The, the Pirates were playing the Blue Jays and Tommy Pham drew a walk, flipped his bat at the plate and the, the Blue Jays took exception to that. The be cleared Tommy Pham never, never saw a fight that he, that he didn’t want to be a part of. I think was very interesting. But as far as the, the Blue Jays go, Vlad Guerrero Jr. You know, might be missing some time with, with an injury. Our old friend Miles Straw, two home runs in a game against Texas on Saturday. This is a guy who hit three home runs total while he was with Cleveland and over like three or four seasons there. And, and then you know, the Blue Jays are the team to watch because now you got Shane Bieber coming in, getting close to making his first start.
Paul Hoynes: Yeah, Shane Bieber, they’re going to activate him on Friday, Joe. He will start against the Marlins in Miami. First start since April 2, 2024 when he pitched for the Guardians. His last start, you know, about 10, 12 days later he underwent Tommy John surgery on his right elbow and he’s been rehabbing that ever since. This past Friday, Joe, he made his finals rehab start for AAA Buffalo. Went seven scoreless innings. So it sounds like Bieber is ready. I mean he’s as ready as he’s gonna be and you know, I would imagine the, the Blue Jays can’t wait to you know, roll him out there, see how he does. They’re having a great year. They’re, they’re lead, they have a comfortable, I think about a five game lead in the AL East. And you know, Bieber, you know, at 85, 90% could only help them retain that lead.
Joe Noga: Yeah, it’s going to be weird watching Shane Bieber make his debut with the, with the Blue Jays wearing a different uniform, pitching in a different stadium. Not with, not with Cleveland. But yeah, I think everybody in the organization, as long as it doesn’t interfere with the guardians trajectory, I think they wish Shane Bieber well and hope he does well. It’s something that, that you know, we’ll be keeping an eye on for sure before we get going. Wanted to mention the NFL floating the idea, talking about the idea of playing the super bowl in London in the future. You know, they haven’t decided yet and obviously it would be years away because they choose the city for the super bowl, you know, two to three years out ahead of time. But the fact that they’re even talking about it right now means it’s going to Happen. They don’t let some. They don’t let an idea like this out there. They don’t discuss it. And certainly now that they control ESPN or ESPN control, you know, is part of their package there, they can control the narrative as any way they want. If the NFL is willing to move the super bowl outside of the United States, play it in London, play it on a big stage there, you know, baseball, we’ve seen do things like this. They play in Mexico City, they play games in London, they’ve gone international. They open every season in Japan with games over there. What do you think about these. These games being played outside of American soil? And if that’s the case, could we see the World Series on a neutral site in London, in Mexico, somewhere other than the United States? Would. Would they ever let something like that happen?
Paul Hoynes: Boy, that’s a great question, Joe. You know, I think obviously Major League Baseball plays international games to expand the footprint of the sport, to expand its popularity, but I would think they’d have a hard time taking the World Series out of the United States or Toronto, you know, Canada. I, I think the home team, the home city really plays a vital part in, In. In. In the makeup of the ball and in the makeup and the interest of the World Series. And to take that away from two, you know, hometown cities, that would be tough to do. And, And I think in the NFL, the Super bowl has always been played at a neutral site for, you know, as far as I can remember, you know, that might. So that, you know, that would. That could make this more plausible. But taking the World Series out of the United States, slash, Canada, I can’t see that happening.
Joe Noga: Yeah, I think Tampa Bay is the only team that’s ever won a Super bowl in its own stadium, and that was the year after Covid, I think, in 2021. So, you know, it’s not like it was a completely full stadium at the time. It was definitely a different experience for them having the super bowl there. But you’re right. Yeah, economically, I think the, The World Series is a big driver. You know, when, when you’re playing it at home, that’s, That’s. It’s a big deal for each of those, Those hometown teams. You remember how full the. The plaza was there at progressive field in 2016. Just the, the people that come out for those games, it’s. It’s a big deal. And to take that away wouldn’t. Wouldn’t be ideal. But, you know, maybe if they don’t play the World Series, maybe they play the All Star game at a neutral site or outside the country. Again, that’s, that would be a logistics nightmare in terms of getting players there from all different, you know, parts of the country after, at the end of the first half of the season. But, you know, if the NFL is willing to take its biggest event, pretty much the biggest event in sports, and move it outside of the U.S. i think, you know, there’s room in the discussion for something like Major League Baseball doing the same.
Paul Hoynes: And, you know, and I would think weather would play a big factor in it, Joe. I mean, you know, think about what the. The 2007 World Series. The Guardians and the Indians and The Marlins. No, 1997 World Series. Yeah, and it’s, you know, it’s 14 degrees in Cleveland. You know, it’s 90 degrees in, in Miami. A neutral site. You could, if it was a warm weather neutral site, you know, that, that could make for a much better level of play as well. So, you know, I think that might factor into it as well.
Joe Noga: Yeah, you know, you could choose a place in like, Tokyo that has a dome or something like that. There. There’s all sorts of different options. Hell, if I was, if I was London or if I was Mexico or even Canada, I’d be willing to build a dome, you know, just to get the, just to get the World Series there. You know, tell them, hey, you know, we’ll do that for you if you commit to having regular games here or something like that. All right, Hoynsie, that’s going to wrap up today’s edition of the Cleveland Baseball Talk podcast. We will be back with you on Thursday after getaway game here on Wednesday in Arizona. We’ll talk to you then.
Paul Hoynes: All right, Joe.
If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.