No. 16 overall prospect Williams to debut Wednesday

CLEVELAND — There had been solely a handful of occasions that Cleveland’s high prospect, Gavin Williams, could possibly be seen across the Goodyear complicated this spring.

Sure, he was all around the backfields with the remainder of the Minor Leaguers, however not often was noticed close to the diamonds or within the bullpens that the Major Leaguers traipsed throughout, which can have been by design to be able to preserve him out of Guardians supervisor Terry Francona’s sight.

“​​I don’t think they wanted me to [see much of him],” Francona mentioned with fun. “I think they were afraid I might want to bring him with us.”

Now, Francona could have a entrance row seat to the stuff everybody has been raving about since Williams was drafted by Cleveland within the first spherical of the 2021 Draft, because the group’s high prospect is about to make his Major League debut on Wednesday towards the A’s at Progressive Field.

“I have no words for it, really,” Williams mentioned. “I don’t know how to describe it right now.”

It’d be troublesome for any coach or supervisor to look at Williams pitch and never wish to have him on their group. Any starter who can flash triple digits, particularly for the Guardians who haven’t boasted starters who’ve a ton of velocity, will flip heads.

Williams’ heater sits within the mid-to-upper-90s and has clocked in sooner than 100 mph a number of occasions within the Minors this yr. According to the consultants at MLB Pipeline, the most important cause for Williams’ surge since turning skilled was studying to spin the ball successfully. He has a mid-80s slider and an upper-70s curveball which have developed quickly, boosting his arsenal.

“[His] stuff is really good,” Francona mentioned. “[He’s] still learning, which I think is [expected]. … I think it’s exciting, but I think we need to, like we told him, ‘Just go pitch. If we need to start making adjustments, we will. Let’s see you pitch first.’”

Not solely did MLB Pipeline have Williams ranked as Cleveland’s No. 1 prospect, but additionally the sixteenth greatest prospect in all of baseball and he’s lived as much as these expectations to this point. Williams made simply three begins with Double-A Akron, giving up one run in 14 1/3 innings, earlier than he was promoted to Triple-A Columbus, the place he continued to be a strikeout machine. In 46 innings, he fanned 61 batters. He additionally posted a 2.93 ERA.

“It’s the easiest 98 to 100 [mph] you’ll ever see, I think,” Guardians pitching coordinator Joel Mangrum mentioned of Williams final spring. “At least from a kid that age.”

Williams was drafted by Cleveland within the first spherical of the 2021 Draft, however throughout Spring Training in ‘22, it was clear that everyone in the organization was confident he’d fly via the farm system, together with his teammates. After simply 37 Minor League begins, he’s set to make his first one within the Majors.

“It’s effortless,” Cleveland’s No. 8 prospect and shortstop Jake Fox mentioned. “Effortless 100 miles per hour. He’s got four pitches, so it’s going to be hard if you go down 0-1. It’s a tough at-bat.”

The Guardians now have three of their most enjoyable younger hurlers of their rotation. Tanner Bibee was one other Top 100 prospect (No. 65) and Logan Allen completed the yr as Cleveland’s No. 8 up-and-comer. Most of this leads to pleasure, because the group will get a preview of what its pitching will appear like for years to return. But it additionally will include some hurdles that Francona might want to monitor.

“There’s a balance right now with three young guys in the rotation now and when they come up, it’s not just the innings, it’s the intensity of the innings,” Francona mentioned. “Look at Tanner’s start the other day. Man, it was the fifth inning and he was grinding. … That takes a lot out of you. So, we want to keep an eye on his stuff.”

But there’s no want to fret in regards to the negatives anytime quickly. For now, Francona can solely give attention to getting his eyes on Williams after a much-anticipated wait.

“This start tomorrow — again, I say it every time — it won’t define whether he’s going to the Hall of Fame or going back to [Single-A],” Francona mentioned. “But I think we’re excited to watch him and to watch him grow because he will.”