The New York Yankees made a blockbuster trade to acquire Devin Williams from the Milwaukee Brewers in the offseason. The trade has not worked out as Williams has looked like a shell of his former self.
Williams has a 5.44 ERA and is having the worst year of his career. His struggles continued on Tuesday night as he allowed a go-ahead two-RBI single to Rowdy Tellez in the eighth inning. The Yankees would not score in the ninth inning and picked up their fifth straight loss.
The loss was also Aaron Judge’s first game back from the injured list. The Yankees’ captain sent a message about Williams after the game.
“You’re going to hit some rough parts like that,” said Judge, per the New York Post’s Greg Joyce. “But we just got to be there to support him. He’s picked us up quite a bit throughout the year and we got to pick him up sometimes. It’s just part of it.”
Williams has four losses and three blown saves on the season. He was already removed from the closer’s role once, and it would not be a shock to see Aaron Boone start using Camilo Doval and David Bednar over Williams.
Williams looked to have found his All-Star form in June. He had a 0.93 ERA and six saves in the month, but since the calendar turned to July, he has a 7.11 ERA. The Yankees are sliding in the standings and need to turn things around in a hurry.