Gavin Williams' historic domination of Dodgers is great sign for Guardians

Last week, Gavin Williams labored through his season debut against the Seattle Mariners. While he racked up seven strikeouts thanks to a fastball that nearly reached triple-digits, he also walked six batters due to a mechanical issue that popped up. 

While it was only one start in a season full of them, it was still a little alarming to see given how much Williams has struggled with finding the strike zone in the past. 

But he made that a thing of the past on Wednesday with an electric start against the Dodgers where he threw seven shutout innings with 10 strikeouts. 

While that’s also only one start, it was a show of domination that should set the tone for what should be a strong season for the big right-hander. 

Gavin Williams staked his claim as the Guardians’ ace after strong start against Dodgers 

Not only was Williams’ start a bunch-needed palette cleanser after Tanner Bibee’s laborious start the game prior, but it also put him in elite company, as he became the third Guardians pitcher to record a double-digit strikeout game against the Dodgers, joining CC Sabathia and Corey Kluber. 

Sabathia’s came in the form of a seven-inning shutout start in June 2008 (about two weeks before he was traded to the Brewers), while Kluber’s performance came in a loss in June 2017. 

Williams had everything working on Wednesday. Not only did he throw all five of his pitches, but he also recorded six whiffs with his sweeper and curveball. His fastball once again topped out at 99 mph, so he was able to play his offspeed stuff off that. 

While he also allowed three walks, he was able to get the subsequent batter to ground into a double play all three times. At one point he retired 12 of the 13 batters he faced in the middle innings. 

“That’s about as good as it gets from Gavin right there,” manager Stephen Vogt said, per Cleveland.com’s Paul Hoynes. “He had every pitch working. He and Bo were on the same page.” 

While Williams inserted himself into the baseball zeitgeist last August when he came within two outs of no-hitting the Mets, he had quietly been putting together a breakout season before that. He finished the year with a 3.06 ERA in 167 2/3 innings. 

That breakout has carried over into this season thanks to his domination of one of the best lineups in baseball.

The Guardians don’t have as much pitching depth as they’ve had in season’s prior, so getting strong starts from the rotation are a necessity. 

So far Williams and Parker Messick are the only two who have provided that via their starts against Los Angeles (though there’s obviously still lots of baseball left to be played). 

But regardless of how the rest of the rotation looks, Williams seems ready to carry the rotation on his shoulders for as long as he needs to.