Gavin

Williams

Williams gave up 11 hard-hit balls, including homers to Isaac Collins and Michael Massey. It’s the second time in three starts that he’s been ineffective, though the outing in between was a nine-strikeout gem against the Rays. He still has a 3.28 ERA on the year. He’s due to face the Twins on Sunday.

Williams got the victory, his fifth of the year. He had an easy time even though his velocity was down a bit today; he averaged 95.2 mph with his fastball, compared to 96.7 mph in his first six starts. Still, it didn’t stop him from generating 13 whiffs or finishing with an excellent 39 percent CSW. For the season, he has a 31 percent strikeout rate and a 51 percent groundball rate, both of which are considerably better than his career marks of 24 percent and 42 percent, respectively. He’ll face the Royals next.

Williams’ first real dud of the season -- it didn’t seem like there was anything particularly wrong under the hood here, and he somehow escaped with a win anyway. His average fastball velocity was up to 97 mph. He just didn’t seem to be able to spot his curveball, allowing four of his nine hard-hit balls on 25 of those pitches. Homers continue to be a sneaky problem as he’s now allowed six in six starts. He’ll try to pick up the pieces against the Rays next week.

Williams topped his previous season high of 10 strikeouts, falling one short of matching his career high. With his sweeper proving dominant, he had 18 whiffs and a 41 percent CSW, and aside from a Leody Taveras homer, most of the hard contact against him resulted in groundouts. He’ll take a 3-1 record and a 2.12 ERA into his next start in Toronto.

Williams walked two, but had much better command than his start Tuesday against Kansas City when he issued five walks and threw just 55-of-102 pitches for strikes. He was able to land 62-of-93 in this outing, and he generated a respectable 10 swings and misses with four strikeouts. A solid — if unspectacular — effort from Williams, and he’ll look to keep it up with a few more punchouts against the Orioles come Saturday.

Williams was basically spraying the baseball during Tuesday’s start, as he issued five walks and threw just 55-of-102 pitches for strikes. Despite that, he was able to limit Kansas City to the solo run, and that came on a solo shot from Carter Jensen. Williams has struck out 25 hitters over his first three starts, and while his command offers a lot of volatility, the ability to miss bats (10 swings and misses in this one) gives him a considerable ceiling. He’ll be back Monday against the Cardinals.

Williams authored a masterful performance in an extremely challenging road matchup against a Dodgers lineup that resembles a fully operational Death Star, scattering two hits and three walks over seven frames while recording double-digit strikeouts for the fifth time in his career. The 26-year-old former top pitching prospect, who posted a sparkling 2.18 ERA across 12 second half starts to close out last year, has looked like an upper-echelon fantasy starter so far, allowing three runs with a 16/9 K/BB ratio across 11 innings of work. He’ll face the Royals on Tuesday in a home matchup.

Williams couldn’t locate his pitches in this one, issuing six walks on the evening while racking up seven strikeouts. All of the damage done against him came in the fourth inning as the right-hander walked a pair of Mariners and then served up a two-out, three-run blast to Cole Young. He threw just 49 of his 89 pitches for strikes, generating 15 whiffs and posting a CSW of 26 percent. It’s not going to get any easier his next time out as he’s set to do battle against the Dodgers in Los Angeles on Wednesday.

An efficient Williams got 15 outs with 64 pitches today, never throwing more than 17 in an inning. He ends the spring 2-1 with a 4.58 ERA and a 19/2 K/BB in 17 2/3 innings, and he’ll make his first regular-season start Friday in Seattle. Last year, he was 1-0 with a 2.45 ERA in his two starts against the Mariners.

Williams fanned seven, which is more important at this point than him giving up some runs in Arizona ballparks. It seems like the hype that was building for him down the stretch last year hasn’t really materialized in his ADPs this spring, probably because there isn’t much in his numbers that’s particularly appealing. Still, he throws plenty hard and he’s in an organization that has turned lesser arms into a really good pitchers; he still might find another gear.