Gavin Williams’ postseason start against White Sox gives him great chance to become Guardians legend

No matter how Gavin Williams’ Guardians’ career ends, he’s already done enough in Cleveland that his time with the team is going to be thought of highly thanks to his exploits with the team. 

His multiple double-digit strikeout games. His near no-hitter against the Mets. His growth into a frontline ace. 

But the best chance for him to permanently become a Cleveland icon is going to come later today when he toes the rubber in Game 2 of the ALDS against the Chicago White Sox. 

It may not be a true “must-win” game, but it’s about as close as you can get to one since a loss would put the Guardians in a 2-0 hole ahead of the series shifting to Chicago. 

Gavin Williams' Game 2 ALDS start could determine Guardians' postseason fate

Although Williams’ ERA rose a bit this season compared to last year, he finished the regular season with an American League-leading 248 strikeouts in a career-high 184 1/3 innings. 

He showcased the kind of durability and swing-and-miss that makes him a frontline ace, even if he gave up a bit more damage than in 2025. 

Last year the Guardians rewarded Williams’ for his breakout season by having him start Game 1 of the Wild Card Series against the Tigers (where he put together a fantastic start that came in a loss), and this year’s reward for his sustained dominance is a start against the White Sox with no margin for error. 

It’s also going to come against a familiar foe, as Williams’s four starts against the White Sox (20 1/3 innings) are the most appearances he made against a single team in the regular season. 

Although he recorded 6+ strikeouts in all those starts, he also allowed multiple earned runs in all of them and only made it out of the fifth inning once. 

Postseason baseball may be a whole different animal, but Williams will have his work cut out for him against a lineup that knows him well and has had some success off him in the past. 

It also doesn’t help that the White Sox’s lineup is one of the hottest in the postseason. They were able to rev things up in their dominant Wild Card Series win over the Astros, and they carried that momentum into Game 1 of the ALDS while the Guardians’ offense looked like it hadn’t played in more than a week. 

Williams is going to have to counteract that while also shaking off the rust that could come with him having 10 days off. 

He’s clearly a better pitcher than White Sox Game 2 starter Anthony Kay, but that doesn’t mean as much in the postseason as it does in the regular season. 

This year Williams went from being one of the best kept secrets in baseball to a frontline ace that every pitching staff fears. He can add a final feather in that cap later today with a good start against the White Sox.

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