The Cleveland Guardians earned their third win of their still-young spring training campaign on Tuesday, comfortably beating the Los Angeles Angels 8-1 behind a strong performance by the offense and the pitching staff.
Jhonkensy Noel and Yordys Valdez went yard, and Gavin Williams and Logan Allen impressed from the mound.
Allen tossed three scoreless innings in relief, surrendering two hits and a walk.
He struck out two.
The most impressive performance came courtesy of Williams, though.
“Cleveland #Guardians RHP Gavin Williams stuck out the side in order in the 1st inning today vs the Angels. He went on to strike out the side in the second as well. Line – 2.1(IP) 3H 1R 1ER 1BB 6SO. (51 Pitches, 31 Strikes). He topped 98.3 mph. Updated spring numbers: 4.1(IP) 3H 1R 1ER 1BB 9SO 2.08 ERA,” Guardians Prospective wrote on X.
Cleveland #Guardians RHP Gavin Williams stuckout the side in order in the 1st inning today vs the Angels. He went on to strikeout the side in the second as well.
Line – 2.1(IP) 3H 1R 1ER 1BB 6SO
(51 Pitches 31 Strikes)
He topped 98.3 mph.
Updated spring numbers:
– 4.1(IP)… pic.twitter.com/WSb4Ok7XxX
— Guardians Prospective (@CleGuardPro) March 4, 2025
The first six outs Williams got came via the strikeout.
In fact, in a way, he toyed with Angels hitters, earning an incredible 15 whiffs in the short outing.
Williams is throwing harder than ever, surpassing 98 mph on occasion.
Last year, even with the elbow injury that limited his availability, his fastball averaged 96.6 mph which is even better than his rookie-year average of 95.7 mph.
Right now, and despite the run he allowed on Tuesday, Williams is looking fantastic on the mound.
He looks primed for a true breakout, which might sound hard to believe considering he posted a 3.29 ERA in 2023 as a rookie.
His ceiling is, shockingly, even better than that.
He couldn’t perform well last year in large part because of the delayed debut as a result of his injury.
He ended up posting a 4.86 ERA in 76 frames, but his 3.67 Fielding Independent Pitching (FIP) indicated that he deserved a better outcome.
At the moment, he looks in mid-season form and is already stretched out to 51 pitches.
In other words, he should be ready to dominate in the middle of the Guardians rotation by the time the regular season starts.
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