On Friday, the New York Yankees made a head-turning trade after acquiring Milwaukee Brewers’ closing pitcher Devin Williams for starting pitcher Nestor Cortes and second-baseman prospect Caleb Durbin. While many eyes were on Corbin Burnes, recently acquired Max Fried, and even Padres’ Tanner Scott, the Devin Williams trade came out of left field.
Devin Williams is one of baseball’s best relievers and will replace Clay Holmes as the Yankees’ closer for 2025. Devin Williams will be coming to New York with many accolades under his belt. He is the two-time NL All-Star, the 2020 NL Rookie of the Year, and has a career stat-line of 1.89 ERA with a 1.02 WHIP and 68 saves on 235.2 innings.
Williams also has the best ERA among relief pitchers outside Cleveland Guardians’ Emmanuel Clase from 2020 to 2024. Williams ranks second in ERA with 1.70 compared to Clase’s 1.62. Clase is considered one of baseball’s best closers, and for the Yankees to have the second-best closer in baseball will prove to be extremely beneficial for another World Series run.
Devin Williams is also known for a fun little nickname, “Airbender,” as his changeup can often mimic a screwball. Williams utilizes the changeup as one of his main pitches in his repertoire, as he has a 45% usage rate behind his fastball, which has a 53% usage rate. Other batters fear his changeup, as it has only allowed 13 hits with a hit average of .111 and 73 strikeouts on 171 at-bats that have ended on Williams’ changeup.
Devin Williams will be coming from his 2024 season with an ERA of 1.25 on 21.2 innings pitched, a 0.969 WHIP, and allowing only one home run. While he suffered an injury early in the season, he returned strong. To say he’s an upgrade from Clay Holmes would be an understatement. While Holmes had a fantastic outing early in the 2024 season, he began to crumble in the summer and came out of the closer spot by September.
Devin Williams will be a massive upgrade for the Yankees, considering their bullpen needs some upgrading, especially after the World Series. While the New York bullpen generally performed well in the postseason, they overutilized guys like Tommy Kahnle and Luke Weaver rather than having a reliable bullpen they could trust.
Even though other relief pitchers like Tim Hill and Mark Leiter Jr. exceeded expectations in the postseason, the Yankees would rather see a bullpen that they can feel safe putting out on the mound than praying for a miracle.
Luke Weaver will be slotted out of the closer spot and back to becoming a middle or late-relief pitcher type of player. That is no discredit to what Weaver has done for the Yankees late in the season and going into the postseason. In his 2024 outing, Weaver posted a 2.89 ERA on 84 innings pitched, with 103 strikeouts and a 0.93 WHIP.
Since being placed at the closer spot, Weaver allowed only two runs and six hits on 12 innings pitched during the month of September. In the postseason, Weaver had an ERA of 1.76 with 16 strikeouts, a 0.65 WHIP, and four saves. Both he and Williams will be a threatening one-two punch heading into 2025.
Jonathan Loaisiga will return to the New York Yankees on a one-year deal after suffering a season-ending injury early in the 2024 season. Loaisiga has a career stat line of an ERA of 3.44 on 219.2 innings pitched with 207 strikeouts and a 1.23 WHIP. While his ERA is a concerning stat line, the Bronx Bombers hope a full year’s rest will get him back into form. Loaisiga has shown he can be a valuable asset with a strong fastball velocity average of 97.3.
While Juan Soto staying in the Bronx was the initial plan, Brian Cashman and Hal Steinbrenner could pivot quickly into a Plan B that may be more effective for them in the long run. What they may lack on offense with no generational hitter like Juan Soto, they’re making up for it on the mound.
The Boys In Pinstripes are looking to have their pitchers become the backbone of the team for the 2025 season, and it may end up paying well for them if all goes right. While the Bronx Bombers will be able to get quality pieces on offense, it’s clear that shifting toward the pitching staff will be the move that could get them back into the World Series without the need for Juan Soto.
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