Jason Burgos
A new report has shed light on how the New York Mets have been able to get closer Devin Williams back to his vintage form, and it was by fixing something the New York Yankees broke.
When the Yankees traded for the two-time All-Star reliever, some thought it was the best move the club made that offseason. While his 2024 season ended by giving up a crushing homer to former Mets slugger Pete Alonso, Williams was still seen as an elite closer in the game.
Yet, the pitcher’s first year in New York was a huge disappointment. He posted an ERA over 4.00 and lost his closing job after a few months. But despite the down season, he was an arm in high demand in the winter because talent evaluators felt he showed positive signs that he was getting back to All-Star form late in the 2025 campaign.
Unfortunately, after making the move from the Bronx to Queens in 2026, the Mets were still getting the version of Williams that frustrated Yankees fans last year. His performance was another key part of a disastrous start to the season for the Amazin’s. However, as the club has turned things around in recent weeks, so has Williams. Since late April, the closer has thrown 9 2/3 scoreless innings, two hits, two walks, and 12 strikeouts.
Pre-pitch hand position is the major change Devin Williams made with NY Mets?
So what happened that made the All-Star version of Williams return? Well, according to a new report from The Athletic’s Will Sammon, Williams went back to doing something he did when he was with the Milwaukee Brewers: He returned to holding his hands more parallel to his chest before throwing his pitches.
Williams went away from that approach because Yankees coaches urged the change to having his hands start lower to avoid a belief around the game that he might have been tipping pitches. It seems weird that a change like that would effect so much, but when using that style in the Bronx, Williams posted a 4.79 ERA in 62 innings for the Pinstripes.
“When Williams sat down with [quality control coach Danny] Barnes, they decided to watch film from a time when he felt good,” the report notes. “They ended up using one of the right-hander’s appearances at Citi Field in 2023 because they had biomechanical footage from the outing. He compared the video to his game from the night before.
“While watching the 2023 outing, Williams immediately noted his posture. He called out other little observations, too. One of the main things Williams spotted was his hand placement.”
If Williams can keep up this hot run he has had in May, then it will be hard to deny that the hand position change was him and the Mets fixing something the Yankees broke.
