The Cleveland Guardians fell 5-1 to the Seattle Mariners on Friday night, as George Kirby was virtually flawless on the mound for the home team. The only real damage the righty allowed was a solo home run by the red-hot Chase DeLauter.
Gavin Williams started the game for the Guardians and was actually holding the Mariners scoreless during his first three innings. A three-run home run by Cole Young in the fourth gave the Mariners control of the game from that point forward, though.
Williams, who was Cleveland’s best pitcher last year with a brilliant 3.06 ERA and 173 strikeouts, ended up limiting Seattle to those three runs in five innings. It wasn’t a disaster by any means, but it wasn’t good enough.
The problem with Williams was, unsurprisingly, walks. He led the league in bases on balls in 2025 with 83, and was at it again on Friday, giving away a whopping six vs. Seattle.
He conceded just two hits, but one of them was a homer. Six walks and extra-base hits are just not a good combination if you are a pitcher.
Williams liked his stuff on Friday, but conceded that he had issues throwing strikes.
“(I) felt good. I was just everywhere with the ball tonight, more with the heater. I was spraying the heater the whole day.”
Williams got 15 swings and misses, a healthy number by any standards, but strikeouts mean little if the pitcher always gets himself in trouble with walks. And the right-hander knows it.
Williams fastball got him five whiffs, which is good, but he only got a single called strike with it. His control and command of the pitch were just off all night.
He appears to be in the right state of mind to leave this one behind him, though.
“I think there’s good and there’s bad in every game. I’m not going to think about the bad anymore. Got myself a little roll for me when I take my cleats off. I’m done with the bad part. So I’m only going to look at the good from the game… [I started that mindset] during college. I think it’s a good way to look at it. You don’t always want to look at the past. You want to go forward with everything,” he said, per team insider Mason Horodyski.
#Guardians Gavin Williams on his stuff tonight vs Seattle:
“Felt good. I was just everywhere with the ball tonight, more with the heater. I was spraying heater the whole day.”
On putting this one behind him:
“I think there's good and there's bad in every game. I'm not going… https://t.co/G2Fqaxyfmz
— Mason Horodyski (@MasonHorodyski) March 28, 2026
Every pitcher struggles from time to time, but only the elite ones have enough mental strength and resilience to completely forget about a bad game and focus on the next one.
Expect Williams to be much sharper next week, when he makes his second start of the young 2026 MLB season. He still boasts elite potential if he can harness his stuff.
NEXT: Stephen Vogt Reveals Encouraging Update About Tanner Bibee
