Devin Williams

Devin Williams

28-Year-Old PitcherRP
Milwaukee Brewers
2023 Fantasy Outlook
Williams made his first All Star team in 2022 after an impressive first half as Milwaukee's setup man. Once Josh Hader was traded, many assumed Williams would become the Brewers primary closer, but the team used him as part of a committee for a bit before finally turning things over during the final month. Williams finished with a career high 15 saves, including seven of Milwaukee's last nine. Momentum is certainly on his side as we forecast closers for 2023, especially since his Statcast metrics were off the charts. Williams was 99th percentile or better across nine diffferent metrics, including strikeout rate and hard hit rate. The one area that continues to be a problem is walks, but that's bound to happen when you have insane movement on your changeup - a pitch so filthy that it has its own nickname. While the "Airbender" gets the attention, Williams really improved the effectiveness of his 4-seamer (.090 BAA), which supplemented the change as a secondary strikeout pitch. Read Past Outlooks
RANKS
#67
ADP
$Signed a one-year, $3.35 million contract with the Brewers in January of 2023.
Set for regular season
PMilwaukee Brewers
March 28, 2023
Williams tossed a scoreless inning of relief in Monday's spring game.
ANALYSIS
After a stellar WBC showing in which he allowed just two runners to reach base over 3.1 innings, Williams rejoined the Brewers and made two appearances over the past four days. He will open the regular season as the Brewers' closer and will attempt to build on a 2022 campaign that he finished with a 1.93 ERA, 1.01 WHIP and 96:30 K:BB over 60.2 innings.
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Pitching Stats
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2022
2021
2020
2019
2022 MLB Game Log
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2021 MLB Game Log
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2020 MLB Game Log
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2019 MLB Game Log
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Pitching Appearances Breakdown
Average Pitch Count
16
Last 10 Games
19
Last 5 Games
21
How many pitches does Devin Williams generally throw?
 
1-10
 
11-20
 
21-30
 
31-40
 
41-50
 
51-60
 
61-70
 
71-80
 
81-90
 
91-100
 
101-110
 
111-120
 
121+
 
1-10
 
11-20
 
21-30
 
31-40
 
41-50
 
51-60
 
61-70
 
71-80
 
81-90
 
91-100
 
101-110
 
111-120
 
121+
 
1-10
 
11-20
 
21-30
 
31-40
 
41-50
 
51-60
 
61-70
 
71-80
 
81-90
 
91-100
 
101-110
 
111-120
 
121+
What part of the game does Devin Williams generally pitch?
 
 
 
1st
 
 
 
2nd
 
 
 
3rd
 
 
 
4th
 
 
 
5th
 
 
 
6th
 
 
 
7th
 
 
 
8th
 
 
 
9th
 
Extra
 
 
 
1st
 
 
 
2nd
 
 
 
3rd
 
 
 
4th
 
 
 
5th
 
 
 
6th
 
 
 
7th
 
 
 
8th
 
 
 
9th
 
Extra
 
 
 
1st
 
 
 
2nd
 
 
 
3rd
 
 
 
4th
 
 
 
5th
 
 
 
6th
 
 
 
7th
 
 
 
8th
 
 
 
9th
 
Extra
% Games Reaching Innings Threshold
% Games By Number of Innings Pitched
Left/Right Pitching Splits
Since 2020
 
 
-20%
BAA vs RHP
2022
 
 
-47%
BAA vs RHP
2021
 
 
-5%
BAA vs RHP
2020
 
 
-32%
BAA vs LHP
BAA Batters K BB H 2B 3B HR
Since 2020vs Left .171 285 99 37 41 6 1 7
Since 2020vs Right .137 281 137 30 34 4 1 1
2022vs Left .207 101 31 10 18 3 0 2
2022vs Right .110 139 65 20 13 2 0 0
2021vs Left .190 122 38 19 19 2 1 4
2021vs Right .181 104 49 9 17 2 0 1
2020vs Left .075 62 30 8 4 1 0 1
2020vs Right .111 38 23 1 4 0 1 0
More Splits View More Split Stats
Home/Away Pitching Splits
Since 2020
 
 
-25%
ERA at Home
2022
 
 
-12%
ERA at Home
2021
 
 
-26%
ERA at Home
2020
 
 
-100%
ERA at Home
ERA WHIP IP W L SV K/9 BB/9 HR/9
Since 2020Home 1.59 0.94 73.2 12 4 9 14.9 4.4 0.2
Since 2020Away 2.12 1.07 68.0 6 3 9 15.1 4.1 0.8
2022Home 1.80 0.87 30.0 2 3 8 15.3 3.9 0.3
2022Away 2.05 1.14 30.2 4 1 7 13.2 5.0 0.3
2021Home 2.15 1.19 29.1 7 0 1 12.6 5.5 0.3
2021Away 2.92 1.18 24.2 1 2 2 16.8 3.6 1.5
2020Home 0.00 0.56 14.1 3 1 0 18.8 3.1 0.0
2020Away 0.71 0.71 12.2 1 0 0 16.3 2.8 0.7
More Splits View More Split Stats
Stat Review
How does Devin Williams compare to other relievers?
This section compares his stats with all relief pitcher seasons from the previous three seasons (minimum 30 innings)*. The bar represents the player's percentile rank. For example, if the bar is halfway across, then the player falls into the 50th percentile for that stat and it would be considered average.

* Exit Velocity, Barrels/BBE %, Balls Hit 95+ MPH %, and Spin Rate are benchmarked against 2019 data (min 30 IP). See here for more exit velocity/barrels stats plus an explanation of current limitations with that data set.
  • K/BB
    Strikeout to walk ratio.
  • K/9
    Average strikeouts per nine innings.
  • BB/9
    Average walks per nine innings.
  • HR/9
    Average home runs allowed per nine innings.
  • Fastball
    Average fastball velocity.
  • ERA
    Earned run average. The average earned runs allowed per nine innings.
  • WHIP
    Walks plus hits per inning pitched.
  • BABIP
    Batting average on balls in play. Measures how many balls in play against a pitcher go for hits.
  • GB/FB
    Groundball to flyball ratio. The higher the number, the more likely a pitcher is to induce groundballs.
  • Left On Base
    The percentage of base runners that a pitcher strands on base over the course of a season.
  • Exit Velocity
    The speed of the baseball as it comes off the bat, immediately after a batter makes contact.
  • Barrels/BBE
    The percentage of batted ball events resulting in a Barrel. A Barrel is a batted ball with similar exit velocity and launch angle to past ones that led to a minimum .500 batting average and 1.500 slugging percentage.
  • Spin Rate
    Spin Rate is the rate of spin on a baseball after it is released. It is measured in revolutions per minute (rpm).
  • Balls Hit 95+ MPH
    The percentage of batted balls hit that met or exceeded the 95 MPH threshold.
  • Swinging Strike
    The percentage of pitches that result in a swing and a miss.
K/BB
3.20
 
K/9
14.2
 
BB/9
4.5
 
HR/9
0.3
 
Fastball
94.0 mph
 
ERA
1.93
 
WHIP
1.01
 
BABIP
.279
 
GB/FB
1.90
 
Left On Base
75.6%
 
Exit Velocity
77.0 mph
 
Barrels/BBE
0.5%
 
Spin Rate
2531 rpm
 
Balls Hit 95+ MPH
15.9%
 
Swinging Strike
18.6%
 
Prospect Rankings History
Advanced Pitching Stats
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Defensive Stats
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Stats Vs Today's Lineup
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Recent RotoWire Articles Featuring Devin Williams See More
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17 days ago
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Past Fantasy Outlooks
2022
2021
2020
2017
2016
2015
2014
The 2020 National League Rookie of the Year and Reliever of the Year was expected to regress a bit last season after posting ridiculous numbers in the COVID-19 shortened campaign. Williams' 2021 journey ended up being a roller coaster that left and returned to the station on a bumpy track. He struggled early on with a 4.19 ERA, 1.40 WHIP and 12 walks across 19.1 innings through the end of May. From June through August, he was lights-out with a 0.60 ERA, 1.00 WHIP and 48:12 K:BB over 30 innings. Williams even recorded the first three saves of his career before he fractured his right hand while celebrating Milwaukee's NL Central division title. He ended up missing the playoffs, which was a big blow to the Brewers. Williams finished the season with eight wins, 23 holds and a respectable 2.50 ERA and 1.19 WHIP. He is expected to be ready for spring training in his familiar setup role to Josh Hader.
Williams was not guaranteed a spot in the Brewers' bullpen heading into last season, but my, how things change. That last word is key, as Williams' changeup helped him transition from afterthought to one of the best relievers in the league. Williams threw the pitch more than half the time and coupled that with a fastball that averaged a tick under 97 mph. He threw a slider here and there, but on the strength of his two-pitch mix he allowed just one earned run and averaged just shy of two punchouts out per inning. Relievers -- particularly those that don't close -- rarely factor into the ROY mix, but Williams was so good he took home the award in the NL. He was named the top NL Reliever to boot. On the heels of his dominant campaign, Williams will be one of the top relievers to target in fantasy circles. If Josh Hader is moved in the offseason, only a couple relievers would be more desirable in fantasy drafts than Williams.
After working mostly as a starter for his first five seasons as a professional, Williams transitioned to a full-time relief role in 2019 and the move immediately paid dividends. The right-hander started the season with Double-A Biloxi, where he pitched well enough to be selected for the Futures Game. He ultimately earned a promotion to Triple-A San Antonio in late July after compiling a 2.36 ERA and 76 strikeouts in 53.1 innings with the Shuckers. Williams made three scoreless appearances for the Missions before earning a promotion to the majors, where he posted a 3.95 ERA, 1.76 WHIP and 14:6 K:BB across 13.2 innings down the stretch. The 25-year-old showed reverse splits with both Biloxi and the big-league club. Williams will probably have to cut down on his walks (13.2 BB% at Double-A in 2019) if he wants to become a reliable bullpen piece for the Brewers in 2020.
Williams already has an average-to-plus changeup to go with a fastball capable of hitting 95 mph. That alone gives Williams, Milwaukee's second-round pick, a good chance of eventually landing in a major league rotation. Add the fact that the 6-foot-3 righty has room to bulk up and continues to improve his breaking pitches and it's looking like the 22-year-old can travel quickly up the organizational ladder. The question will be if he can overcome his control, which has been shaky at best in his professional career. Williams walked more than four batters per nine innings at both Low-A and High-A, and while he has been nasty enough to get away with it thus far, the upper levels of professional ball won't be so kind. In order to continue his development as a starter, Williams needs to show signs of improving his control in 2017.
Williams spent his first season in the minors in 2015, playing for Low-A Wisconsin. He's only 21-years old, but already has three full seasons in the Brewers' organization and is one of their top prospects on the rise. Despite a 3-9 record, Williams posted a 3.44 ERA and 1.25 WHIP on the mound in the 2015 season after coming off a forearm strain that kept him out until late May. Looking ahead to the 2016 season, Williams will continue to climb through the minors but it looks unlikely to expect him to make the big league roster in the next year.
Since being taken out of high school in the second round of the 2013 draft, Williams has fooled hitters with 105 strikeouts in 101 innings, thanks mainly to his quality fastball that hovers in the low-to-mid 90s. His ERA slipped from his first season to his second, but he cut his walks in half, and has given up just five home runs as a pro. After spending the last two seasons in rookie ball, he could see his first action at the Low-A level in 2014.
The Brewers lost their first-round pick last season after signing Kyle Lohse, but they still snagged Williams, whom some considered a first-round talent, in the middle of the second round. Williams already throws a fastball in the mid-90s, and he could add more velocity as he matures. He still has some work to do on his curveball and changeup, and will need to cut down his walks, but he threw the ball well in his professional debut, posting a 3.38 ERA and striking out 39 batters over 34.2 innings. Williams will not turn 20 until next offseason, so the Brewers may opt to keep him in the Rookie Leagues for now. However, Williams has the potential to be a top-end starter a few years down the road.
More Fantasy News
Gets $3.35 million for 2023
PMilwaukee Brewers
January 13, 2023
Williams agreed to a one-year, $3.35 million contract with the Brewers on Friday to avoid arbitration, Robert Murray of FanSided.com reports.
ANALYSIS
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Strikes out three for save
PMilwaukee Brewers
October 1, 2022
Williams picked up the save Friday against the Marlins, allowing a hit while striking out three and walking two over a scoreless inning.
ANALYSIS
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Records four-out save
PMilwaukee Brewers
September 23, 2022
Williams retired the only four batters he faced while earning a save over the Reds on Friday. He struck out three.
ANALYSIS
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Strikes out pair for save
PMilwaukee Brewers
September 18, 2022
Williams did not give up a hit or a walk over a scoreless inning of work to earn the save in a 4-1 victory over the Yankees on Saturday. He struck out two.
ANALYSIS
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Earns save despite shaky outing
PMilwaukee Brewers
September 11, 2022
Williams picked up the save in Sunday's 7-6 win over the Reds. He allowed two runs (one earned) on two hits and no walks while striking out two over one inning.
ANALYSIS
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