Gavin Williams is not the kind of pitcher who makes excuses.
After surrendering a career-high 10 hits and five earned runs in Sunday’s 5-4 loss to the Minnesota Twins, Williams sat down with reporters and was honest about what went wrong.
“It’s easy to hit pitches when you’re not making the right pitch. I got to be better going forward, and we’ll figure it out,” Williams said.
"It's easy to hit pitches when you're not making the right pitch. I got to be better going forward, and we'll figure it out"#Guardians Gavin Williams on his outing, in which he gave up a career high 10-hits. Also noted that his slider felt off today. #GuardsBall @WEWS pic.twitter.com/Xhw0OpVtQd
— Mason Horodyski (@MasonHorodyski) May 10, 2026
Williams also noted after the game that his slider felt off throughout the afternoon, which is significant when you consider how central that pitch is to his overall arsenal. Hitters who might have been uncomfortable against a sharp slider suddenly have more pitches they can handle, counts shift in their favor, and before long a lineup that looked manageable in the early innings starts to pile up hits.
That is precisely what happened in the fifth inning on Sunday. Minnesota sent six men to the plate and scored four times, turning what had been a competitive game into a deficit that Cleveland could not fully erase despite a late rally.
Through nine starts and 55.1 innings, Williams is 5-3 with a 3.74 ERA and 66 strikeouts. His career ERA of 3.57 across 72 starts and 381 innings reflects a pitcher who has been genuinely good at the big league level for going on four seasons now. One difficult afternoon against a hot Minnesota lineup does not erase any of that.
The slider is fixable. The accountability Williams showed Sunday is what matters.
Cleveland opens a three-game series against the Los Angeles Angels on Monday night at Progressive Field. Williams will have nearly a week before his next scheduled start to work through whatever mechanical adjustments are needed to get that slider back to the weapon it has been for most of this season.
The Guardians need him. He knows it. And based on everything he has shown throughout his career, the version of Gavin Williams that shows up next time out will be better for having gone through Sunday.
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