How Williams' new reliable pitch has transformed his season

SAN FRANCISCO -- Guardians starter Gavin Williams was locked in an extended battle with Mike Yastrzemski in the first inning on Thursday. Facing a full count against the Giants’ leadoff man and needing to make a pitch, Williams called upon his old reliable.

Well, his new reliable: his cutter. On the ninth pitch of that sequence, Williams threw a 91.9 mph cutter that dove below the zone, and Yastrzemski was rung up after his check swing went too far.

Williams’ cutter has emerged as an oft-used pitch, after it wasn’t featured in his arsenal at the start of the season. That has coincided with an extended run of success for the big right-hander, which continued in Cleveland’s 2-1 loss to San Francisco on Thursday at Oracle Park.

Williams threw six scoreless innings against San Francisco and allowed just two singles and three walks while striking out six. He threw 104 pitches, including 34 cutters (22 for strikes), his most-thrown pitch, and picked up two strikeouts with it. He picked up a tough-luck no-decision after Giants ace Logan Webb and the San Francisco bullpen allowed just one run on seven hits.

“It's helping him a ton,” manager Stephen Vogt said of Williams’ cutter. “He commands it. It's got different shapes at times. That's his best strike pitch right now, and he's using it. The four-seam, he's blowing it by them when he's using the cutter a lot. I really love the way Gavin is working and progressing.”

Williams’ cutter was his third-most thrown pitch last season (12.1 percent usage), and it evolved out of a slider that he was having some issues throwing. He didn’t throw his cutter once over his first four starts this season, and he first worked it in during his April 21 start against the Yankees.

The thinking behind bringing it back was simple. Williams has a good feel for the cutter, so he and the Guardians can count on it for strikes. For a guy who has struggled with command at times this season, that’s key. Having it in his arsenal also helps keep hitters more honest. Opponents can’t just sit on his four-seam fastball when they’re looking for something hard.

Williams threw five pitches on Thursday: cutter, four-seam, curveball, sinker and his sweeper.

“They can't really guess, or just sit on one pitch the whole time,” Williams said recently. “There's five pitches they have to worry about the whole time.”

Williams threw his cutter 2.1 percent of the time total over his first seven starts. Over his next seven (entering Thursday), its usage was 22.2 percent. Opponents went 3-for-30 against it over that stretch. Consider his numbers over those spans.

• First seven starts: 32 innings, 5.06 ERA, 19 walks, 37 strikeouts
• Next seven starts (entering Thursday): 37 1/3 innings, 2.89 ERA, 20 walks, 35 strikeouts

The cutter has helped him get on track this season.

“Definitely a big part of it,” Williams said Thursday. “That's just something in the back of the hitter’s mind that they have to think about. When I have that, I can throw the fastball anywhere.”

San Francisco did not get a base runner past second base against Williams. He threw 22 pitches in the first inning and recorded two strikeouts. He only needed nine pitches to get through a 1-2-3 fourth, and he led off the fifth by freezing Patrick Bailey with a cutter at the bottom of the zone for a strikeout.

Williams’ pitch mix has evolved, just as he has this season. Although there have been some hiccups along the way, the Guardians like what they continue to see out of him.

“We're seeing him continue to trend,” Vogt said. “There’s going to be some setbacks every now and then, but that was beautifully pitched -- out of trouble. When he needed to make pitches, he did, and we just see him continue to make progress, and, man, is he good. He's making progress and doing a great job in the big leagues.”

Williams has been trending in a good direction, and he believes there’s more in the tank.

“It can definitely be better,” Williams said of his progress. “I'm still learning every day, trying new stuff and seeing where I go from there.”