Devin Williams has clearly had difficulty getting used to his new environment after being traded from the Brewers to New York to be the Yankees closer.
Now, he’ll have to get accustomed to another unfamiliar role: ex-closer.
Aaron Boone said Sunday that he told Williams he was being removed as closer “for right now” after two more collapses in his most recent outings, as his tenure in The Bronx gets off to an almost unimaginably poor start.
Luke Weaver, who replaced Clay Holmes in the closer role late last season, will do the same this time around, as well.
“For right now, I’m gonna take him out of that role,’’ Boone said of Williams before Sunday’s doubleheader against Toronto. “As I said to him, ‘You’ve still got everything to be great.’ This is a guy who’s in the prime of his career and is just going through it a little bit. It happens.”
Usually not to this extent, especially given the 30-year-old’s previous success with Milwaukee.
But after giving up a series-altering homer to the Mets’ Pete Alonso in the wild card round last October and Williams’ ensuing trade to the Yankees, the right-hander has been bad.
He opened the season with four shaky outings, allowing four walks and four runs in three innings before straightening himself in four consecutive solid appearances.
Then came consecutive outings in which Williams allowed multiple runs, including his blown save on Friday.
That left him with 10 earned runs in just 12 innings, as well as a WHIP of 2.375.
He’s been almost unrecognizable from the pitcher that was among the most effective relievers in the game for most of the previous five years.
“He’s got everything to get through this and come out better on the other side and that’s my expectation,” Boone said. “But for right now, I feel it’s best for everyone that we pull him out of that role and just try to start building some good rhythm and confidence and momentum. I fully expect him to be a central figure for us moving forward.”
In what capacity, though, remains to be seen.
Williams has been booed on multiple occasions by the unforgiving Stadium crowd this season.
Boone noted that even Mariano Rivera heard some of those when Boone arrived to the Yankees as a player in 2003.
By then, though, Rivera was already among the best closers in the sport, with a long history in The Bronx.
Williams has seemed uncomfortable since arriving to the Yankees and he certainly hasn’t made it easier on himself by struggling with his command.
He’s given up far more hits and walks than he usually does and his strikeout rate has plummeted.
Although April is typically Williams’ toughest month of the season, he’s never pitched this poorly and neither his four-seamer or his infamous changeup have been overpowering.
Asked about the difficulty some players have of playing in The Bronx, Boone said, “I think there’s that adjustment and Devin really has been nothing but successful at the major league level,’’ Boone said. “I’m sure there is some shock, getting settled with a new team, a new environment. My reminder to him was, ‘You have all the equipment to do this at an elite level.’ That’s still the reality. Nobody likes [being booed], but that’s what you’ve got to do as a big leaguer. You’ve got to deal with external factors that can leak in and have an effect on you.”
