The Cleveland Guardians needed an ace this season.
Shane Bieber was going to miss most of the campaign recovering from Tommy John surgery, and he was ultimately traded to the Toronto Blue Jays, so someone had to step up in his place.
Tanner Bibee was the strongest candidate to claim that spot, but it was Gavin Williams who got the job done.
That’s why manager Stephen Vogt saved Williams for the AL Wild Card opener against the Detroit Tigers.
Though some questioned that decision, Tim Kelly of Bleacher Report recently explained why it was the right move, even if he did rank Williams No. 11 of 12 among playoff aces.
“Gavin Williams was in line to start this past Sunday, but Stephen Vogt, who is likely to repeat as AL Manager of the Year, opted to save him for Game 1 of the ALWCS after Cleveland clinched a postseason spot in Game 161. Williams was Cleveland’s best starting pitcher this season, going 12-5 with a 3.06 ERA over 31 starts. Granted, he did lead all starters with 83 walks and both his 4.28 expected ERA and 4.39 FIP suggest he wasn’t as good as his back-of-the-baseball-card stats would lead you to believe. But he was the easy choice for Game 1 starter based on the success he had across 167.2 innings this season,” Kelly wrote.
Williams was solid in Game 1.
He did give up two runs, but none of those were earned.
All in all, he allowed five hits with one walk and eight strikeouts in six innings.
Unfortunately, he didn’t get the run support he needed, which isn’t a surprise, given that Tigers ace Tarik Skubal was the opposition.
Williams had fared well against Detroit recently, and he did keep their offense in check in Game 1.
Tanner Bibee will take the mound for Cleveland in Game 2, hoping to even the series against Casey Mize.
The Guardians have been the most resilient team in baseball this season, so even though they have their backs against the wall, they should feel confident about their chances.
Williams has been very good this season, and they need to make sure he gets back on the mound this year.
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