Brewers Closer Devin Williams Punches Out The Side in First Rehab Outing
It was a dominating return to the mound for Milwaukee Brewers closer Devin Williams, who appeared in his first game Sunday since March 5th.
The 29-year-old reliever – sidelined since spring training with stress fractures in his back – began a rehab assignment with High-A Wisconsin, pitching an inning of relief as part of the Timber Rattlers’ 5-3 victory over the West Michigan Whitecaps – the Detroit Tigers’ affiliate.
Williams struck out all three batters he faced, one via a called third strike while the other two went down swinging. He threw 14 pitches, registering nine strikes before departing.
Returning to a live-game setting is a significant milestone for Williams, who said it “felt like riding a bike” while speaking post-game about his first appearance in over four months.
The right-handed hurler faced live hitters during batting practice at American Family Field last Tuesday, checking one final box before beginning a rehab assignment. It’s unclear how many more minor-league outings he’ll need, but the Brewers hope he can return around the July 30th trade deadline.
That gives Williams roughly two weeks before the mid-season trade deadline arrives. While the plan has always been to build him up slowly, he should be on track to rejoin the big-league club before the end of the month, assuming he avoids any setbacks.
The two-time All-Star would provide a massive boost to a Brewers bullpen that covered a boatload of innings for an often-injured starting rotation, logging the second-most innings pitched (397.1) in the majors, trailing only the San Francisco Giants (402).
Milwaukee’s bullpen has been excellent despite being without its closer this season, ranking third in ERA (3.35) and eighth in OPP AVG (.225) throughout the sport. Trevor Megill has assumed most of the closing duties, with his team-high 18 saves in 20 opportunities.
The Brewers have also relied on Joel Payamps, Elvis Peguero and Hoby Milner – with all three converting at least one save thus far. Though Bryan Hudson has blown each of his two save opportunities, he leads the ‘pen in innings pitched (48.1), strikeouts (53) and ERA (1.49).
Limiting home runs, however, has been an issue for this group, as the club enters the All-Star break sitting 23rd in HR/9 (1.11). That’s inflated their FIP to 4.12, creating the biggest ERA-to-FIP increase (-0.77) amongst big-league bullpens.
Another area Milwaukee must address is generating more swing-and-miss, with the ‘pen tied for 22nd in strikeout rate (22.1%). Last season, they finished 11th in that regard, whiffing batters at a 24.4-percent clip.
Williams should help jolt the needle forward in those departments upon his return. From 2020-23, he led 223 qualified big-league relievers in ERA (1.75), OPP AVG (.145) and fWAR (6.8), ranking second in strikeout rate (40.5%), third in FIP (2.26) and placed tied for 12th in HR/9 (0.54).
The 2013 second-round selection – who avoided arbitration last winter with a one-year, $7.25-million contract, which includes a 2025 club option worth $10.5 million – became Milwaukee’s closer after Josh Hader was traded to the San Diego Padres in the 2022 blockbuster.
-Thomas Hall
Twitter: @Hall_Thomas_
Photo: daveynin. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.