Williams makes learning experience of start vs. Texas

ARLINGTON — Saturday wasn’t the outcome the Guardians were hoping for, but maybe it’s a lesson that will benefit starter Gavin Williams for the long haul.

Prior to first pitch at Globe Life Field, Guardians manager Terry Francona was talking about how excited he was to see Williams — Cleveland’s 23-year-old No. 1 prospect with just four big league starts — handle the difficult task of facing one of the hottest lineups in MLB. Williams had experience with this at the beginning of the month against the Braves and had to be ready to overcome another daunting hurdle.

It wasn’t easy, but Williams proved he could grind through five innings, allowing just two runs on four hits, despite the traffic he caused with four walks in Cleveland’s 2-0 loss to the Rangers.

“He has really, really good stuff,” Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said. “Power arm, good breaking ball, the occasional changeup. They got a good one over there. … He pitched very well.”

And after this outing, Williams may be more prepared for his starts moving forward.

Lesson No. 1: Up the fastball usage
Cam Gallagher had yet to catch Williams this year, so he spent Thursday prepping for how to best attack this dangerous Rangers lineup with a new, young pitcher. Gallagher asked Williams about his pitch usage and Williams immediately brought up how much more frequently he was using his fastball in the Minors.

“His fastball is an elite pitch,” Gallagher said. “He’s just going to have to throw it a little bit more, throw it for strikes. We leaned a little bit heavier on it today.”

His command still needs work, but it’s clear that Williams’ fastball is lethal enough to be able to lean on. He threw it 61 percent of the time on Saturday, which was up from most of his other outings this season:

June 21: 54%
June 27: 62%
July 3: 56%
July 8: 56%
July 15: 61%

What takes this offering to the next level is Williams’ extension. Entering Saturday, he averaged 95.4 mph on his heater. But he has 7.5 feet of extension with the pitch, which is tied for the seventh highest in baseball (minimum of 150 four-seam/two-seamers). Because of that, the perceived velocity jumps more than two mph to 97.7. On Saturday, he averaged 96.6 mph and topped out at 99, which can only be more difficult on hitters.

“Yeah, I believe in that,” Francona said of perceived velocity. “That’s real.”

Lesson No. 2: Get ahead in the count
Of the 56 fastballs Williams threw against the Rangers, just one resulted in a hit. His stuff is there. Now, it’s time to hone in on the command.

“I’m just nibbling a little bit too much,” Williams said. “Just need to stop being so fine with everything, really.”

Williams loaded the bases with a single, double and a walk to lead off the game. He was able to escape the no-out jam having given up just one run, which came on Adolis García’s fielder’s choice. After consecutive singles in the second, he walked the bases loaded with one out and still managed to avoid more damage than just one run. But the biggest problem was failing to get ahead of hitters.

In the 12 batters he faced in the first two frames, he threw a first-pitch ball to 50 percent of them. In the final three innings of his outing, he threw first-pitch balls 20 percent of the time.

“That first inning, he was in 2-0, 2-1 counts, 3-0 counts off the get-go,” Gallagher said. “League average numbers 0-1 compared to 1-0 is night and day. Just getting ahead, getting strike one and going from there, being able to expand from the strike zone from there.”

Lesson No. 3: You don’t need your best stuff to compete
Williams didn’t have his best command. Yet his ability to grind through the first two innings, avoiding more damage than just one run in each frame, was impressive, especially for someone who’s made just five big league starts. 

And this was more than just a learning moment for Williams. The Guardians needed their starters to eat up frames this weekend with a bullpen game scheduled for Monday. When Michael Kelly started warming in the bullpen in the second, it became concerning whether that bullpen game could happen. But Williams found a way to gut through five frames, retiring nine of the last 10 hitters he faced and saving the ‘pen.

“His willingness to compete is really impressive,” Francona said. “He’s learning on the job.”