Gavin Williams Is Leading MLB In Impressive Category

You can say what you want about Cleveland Guardians right-hander Gavin Williams. Yes, he can be wild, and whether or not he is a true ace is up for debate.

What you can’t say is that the guy is easy to hit. The numbers, as always, back up that statement.

“Guardians right-hander Gavin Williams is having an interesting start to the season. Williams, who will make his fourth start Monday night when he faces the Cardinals, leads the big leagues with a .094 batting average against. He’s tied for fifth with 25 strikeouts and tied for 17th with a 2.04 ERA,” Hoynes wrote.

Williams was excellent for Cleveland last year, when he posted a 3.06 ERA in 167.2 frames. Yes, he led the league in walks with 83, but also struck out 173 hitters, won 12 games, and lost just five.

This time, the Guardians are getting more of the same, only with Williams proving to be even harder to hit. Of course, the sample is too small to draw any conclusions, and that .094 batting average is sure to increase a bit over the long haul, but what he’s done deserves praise and recognition.

Since Williams has walked so many people (14 in 17.2 frames so far), his FIP is a much more realistic 4.17. The number, however, was also elevated last year, when he posted a 4.39 mark that didn’t look good in comparison to his 3.06 ERA.

Williams appears to be one of those hurlers who usually finds the pitch he needs to get out of jams, and even though that might not be entirely sustainable, it’s not just happening this year. It happened in 2025 to some extent, too.

Therefore, there might always be a gap between his ERA and FIP, but he does need to lower the walks because they could come back to haunt him. He got away with an 11.8 percent walk rate in 2025, but a 20.9 percent mark is a recipe for disaster.

Williams has been so hard to hit that, so far, the elevated walk rate hasn’t mattered. He has only conceded five hits in the 17.2 frames he has tossed to this point.

If he ever cuts down the bases on balls, he could enter a whole new tier. For now, he’s proving he can be an asset even with an elevated walk rate, but he is in dangerous territory.