Devin Williams Survives Pinstripe Debut After Nearly Blowing Save

Well, Opening Day certainly didn’t lack for totally unnecessary Clay Holmes-type drama but in the end, the Yankees survived Devin Williams’ shaky debut as the closer and beat the Brewers 4-2. I thought I’d do a single-game newsletter today, and then from here on out, I’ll do one the morning after the end of each series as I’ve done in the past. Lets get to it.

I guess the win is all that matters because in 2025, the Yankees are going to need every one they can possibly muster in a division that is already flexing muscle in Boston and Baltimore, but for cryin’ out loud, Devin Williams sure made us sweat for it Thursday at Yankee Stadium.

As Yogi Berra once said, “A home opener is always exciting, no matter if it’s home or on the road” though this one really wasn’t, until it was.

Clay “It’s Never Easy” Holmes has moved on to the Mets and has become a starter - in fact, he was their Opening Day starter Thursday and took the loss as the Mets dropped a 3-1 decision in Houston, a game that ended with another former Yankee, you’ve heard of him, Juan Soto striking out to end it with men on first and third. Gotta admit I rather enjoyed that.

In Holmes’ place the Yankees now have Williams who they acquired from the Brewers in the offseason to make the ninth inning far less eventful since he has been one of the National League’s best closers the last two years and has a ridiculous career ERA of 1.83 and WHIP of 1.023 across 241 appearances.

I would assume that over the course of the season if he stays healthy - a big if because of the Yankees’ injury karma - he’ll prove to be a nice upgrade over Holmes, but the man who helped push Hal Steinbrenner to eliminate the outdated facial hair policy did not get off to a promising start with his truly Holmesian performance.

After eight pretty sleepy innings he was handed a three-run lead, making this the easiest save situation possible, and he nearly blew it. He started off single, double, walk so the bases were loaded with no outs and Aaron Boone started working his bubble gum pretty hard.

Williams gave up a sacrifice fly, then fell behind Jackson Chourio 2-1 before finally striking him out on the eighth pitch of the at bat. Chourio is expected to become a superstar, but the kid struck out all five times in this game. That brought dangerous Christian Yelich to the plate with men on second and third and seven tedious pitches later, he swung through a fastball to end the game.

Breathe.

“I love that he didn’t break,” Boone said. “He was in a corner there but he kept making pitches. It’s not always easy but we know how good he is.”

Williams threw 36 pitches in all, third-most in his MLB career which began in 2019 and were his most since 2022. Last year he topped 30 pitches just twice in 22 appearances, he topped 30 once in 61 games in 2023, and just three times in 65 games in 2022 so yeah, this was something to behold.

Good thing there’s a day off Friday, but I’m not even sure Boone would use him if the need arises on Saturday because 36 is a hell of a lot of pitches for a closer to throw.

I would imagine Williams was a little tense making his Yankee Stadium debut, and I’m sure it didn’t help that it was against Milwaukee, the only team he’d ever played for. That team knows him pretty well, and those are still his buddies, so let’s pin this near disaster on that and hope that it’s smooth sailing from here, though I know damn well it won’t be because volatility seems to be a prerequisite for closers these days.

“It wasn’t the easiest one, but it’s kind of fitting that we were playing them,” Williams said. “They really made me work for it today, but I’m glad I was able to get the job done. It’s the same game in my mind. Obviously, there’s a little bit of different expectations, more eyes on you here. But none of that’s going through my mind when I’m on the mound.”

March 27: Yankees 4, Brewers 2

➤ Carlos Rodon put forth a solid performance but his day got cut short thanks to a difficult sixth inning when he threw 20 pitches to the first three batters, walking Yelich on six and then Rhys Hoskins during an extremely annoying 10-pitch battle, and Boone had to pull him at 89 pitches. Until then he was rolling, the only mistake coming in the third when he served up a no-doubter home run to Vinny Capra. He gave up the lone run, four hits and two walks while striking out seven which tied for the second-most by a Yankee lefty on Opening Day, behind only Whitey Ford’s eight in 1955. “I thought his slider was really good today … and that’s still going to be his calling card,” Boone said. “But I think his changeup is going to be really good.”

➤ In that sixth, Tim Hill came on and was nails. He got a force out, gave up a weak-ass infield single, then battled pinch-hitter Isaac Collins for nine pitches with the bases loaded and finally got him on a grounder to short. Great job there.

➤ Mark Leiter pitched the seventh and he was great, three up, three down on 12 pitches, and Luke Weaver handled the eighth, walking one and whiffing two, before Williams gave us all a case of way-too-early-in-the-season agita in the ninth. Leiter, who was terrible when he came over from the Cubs at the trade deadline, is a key man in that bullpen this year. If he can pitch like he did Thursday, he’ll be a valuable bridge to Weaver and Williams.

➤ Austin Wells made all kinds of really cool history. He became the first Yankee and just the fifth major league catcher to ever bat leadoff on Opening Day. The others were Roger Bresnahan for the 1906 Giants, Butch Wynegar for the 1977 Twins, Jason Kendall in 1999 and 2000 for the Pirates and 2007 for the A’s, and Austin Nola for the 2022 Padres. And since none of those players ever hit a home run in their first at bat, Wells became the first catcher in MLB history to homer leading off a game on Opening Day. Further, he became the first Yankee regardless of position to hit a leadoff homer on Opening Day. That’s incredible. “It’s kind of exciting, just getting to hit in front of Aaron Judge and trying to get on base for him,” said Wells, who finished 1-for-3 with a walk. “I think that’s helped me a little bit mindset-wise, just getting on base any way I can.”

➤ Batting a catcher in the leadoff spot is obviously a unique thing, but Wells does seem like the right guy for the job, if for no other reason that the Yankees really don’t have anyone who would be considered a prototypical leadoff man. “Why doesn’t it make sense?” Boone said when asked about it. “Other than he’s a catcher and he’s not fast, although actually he runs pretty well for a catcher. I think he’s gonna control the strike zone and get on base, too, and he’s very early in his career. I think when we look up, he’s gonna be an on-base guy that hits for some power. The industry had real questions about him behind the plate, as did we. It’s remarkable, really, to see where he is now as one of the game’s really good defensive catchers. It’s a testament to the work he has put in. It’s a testament to the coaches that have helped him along the way.”

➤ Nice debut for Cody Bellinger with a walk, a single and a sacrifice fly. Not so nice for Paul Goldschmidt who went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts, and Jasson Dominguez who went 0-for-3 before being lifted in the seventh. That’s actually something we’re probably going to see, Dominguez coming out late in games the Yankees are leading with Trent Grisham going in to play center field and Bellinger switching over to left.

➤ All in all, not a great day at the plate for the Yankees. Their first two runs came on the homers by Wells and then Volpe in the second, both of those short porch specials off Brewers starter Freddy Peralta. And then in the seventh, after Ben Rice walked and Oswaldo Cabrera singled, Judge lucked out when his grounder to third hit the bag and vaulted into left field for an RBI double that made it 3-1 before Bellinger’s sac fly made it 4-1. Judge’s ball could have become an inning-ending double play.

The teams are off Friday and then get back to work Saturday with a 1:05 start on YES. That one should be fascinating as Max Fried, now the ace of the Yankees staff, will make his debut against Nestor Cortes, the fan favorite who was dealt to Milwaukee in the deal for Williams. Nasty Nestor is a fun guy to root for, just not on Saturday.

The series finale Sunday at 1:35 on YES will have Marcus Stroman pitching against Aaron Civale who last year posted a 4.36 ERA and 1.30 WHIP split between the Brewers and Rays.