For Gavin Williams, 2026 looked like the year he turned the corner and announced himself as an ace. The numbers backed it up, and so did the stage he did it on.
Across the regular season and postseason, Williams piled up more than 200 innings and punched out 281 hitters. In the regular season, he posted a 3.76 ERA with a 3.45 FIP, though his 2.85 xERA hinted at something even sharper underneath because of how often he missed bats.
Then came October, where he took things up another level: a 2.16 ERA and a 0.40 FIP, with nearly eighteen strikeouts per nine innings. He was averaging two strikeouts per inning pitched.
When the games got biggest, he delivered, helping drag the Guardians to within two wins of the World Series. There was also shoulder soreness at the end of the season, so the hope is that issue cleared up quickly.
A major reason for the leap was the fastball. Williams turned a pitch that had consistently been a negative in run value into one worth +9.9 last season.
He did it by trimming its usage by 10% from 2025 and throwing it just 27% of the time. That lighter load likely helped the heater tick up to 97.6 mph on average, a full mile per hour harder than before.
He also added a knuckle-curve and used it 22% of the time, cut back his cutter by 8%, and made his sweeper a nightmare for hitters. That pitch finished at 9.5 runs above average after he added 1.3 inches of horizontal break from the previous season.
The result was a pitch mix that the Guardians, their pitching staff, and their catchers used very effectively to turn his four-seamer from a problem into a weapon.
Williams, now 27, is under team control through 2029. The hope, at least in the happiest version of the future, is that David Blitzer takes over and becomes Scott Boras’s best friend and extends Williams for another seven years with the Guardians.
More realistically, the mantra is “Enjoy him.” There’s room to dream on two more playoff runs with Williams before an offseason trade ahead of the 2029 season, or even a mid-2029 deal if that year goes sideways.
What stands out beyond the stuff is the way he carries himself. He has that unbothered-yet-super-competitive North Carolinan feel to him, and it fits the way he pitches.
If he stays healthy, Williams could be the most important player on the Guardians over the next two years. His performance should keep climbing as he sharpens the pitch mix and leans into the new knuckle-curve that graded out well.
In Other News...
Emmanuel Clase Case Just Took A Brutal Turn For Cleveland Fans
Federal prosecutors have added a troubling financial layer to the case surrounding Emmanuel Clase, alleging the Guardians closer owed more than $670,000 in back taxes and that the debt helped drive his involvement in a scheme tied to bettors. The accusations, laid out in the federal case, connect the star reliever to claims of rigged pitches and kickbacks, turning what had already been a damaging investigation into something far more serious for Cleveland to absorb.
Clase has been on suspension and unpaid leave since 2025 while the inquiry has unfolded, and the charges now hanging over him include conspiracy to commit wire fraud, bribery and money laundering. Prosecutors say they have evidence of coordinated pitches that benefited bettors, leaving the Guardians and their fans waiting for the next legal step in a case that keeps getting uglier. [Read more 🡒]
Guardians Free Agency May Come Down To One Risky Rotation Bet
The Guardians offseason search for rotation help could end up circling back to a familiar kind of gamble, the sort that has often fit their pitching model. Two names that stand out are Michael Soroka and Nick Pivetta, both of whom bring upside but also enough medical baggage to make any long-term commitment tricky. Cleveland has built a reputation for helping pitchers manage health and get the most out of their stuff, which makes this a natural place for the front office to consider a calculated risk rather than a clean, easy answer.
Pivetta comes with the stronger recent track record, but elbow concerns hang over his market, while Sorokas path back has been shaped by years of injury trouble and a limited workload since then. MLB Trade Rumors and FanGraphs both project contracts that suggest neither arm will come cheaply, even with the uncertainty attached. For a Guardians club that values pitching depth and durability, the decision may come down to which risk looks more manageable, and which one is worth betting on before the market moves. [Read more 🡒]
Travis Bazzanas Rookie Year Left Guardians Fans With A Real Debate
Travis Bazzanas first big league season gave Guardians fans plenty to chew on, even after the final vote was cast. The rookie showed enough early and late to make a real impression, and his year was good enough to earn an All-Star Game debut for the American League as a defensive substitute, a notable milestone for a player still learning the league.
Still, the full-season picture was more complicated. Bazzana finished 10th in Baseball Writers Association of America Rookie of the Year voting, landing behind teammates Parker Messick and Chase DeLauter, and the middle stretch of his season clearly weighed on his case. For Cleveland, it left an interesting debate: whether Bazzanas flashes of impact were enough to outweigh the inconsistency, or whether his rookie year was simply the first chapter of something bigger. [Read more 🡒]