The Cleveland Guardians are in the thick of the AL wild-card race, and heading into Thursday’s action, sat just 1.5 games back of the third-and-final spot. A major reason why they are still in the race has been the breakout season from starting pitcher Gavin Williams.
Williams, 27, is in his fourth MLB season, all with the Cleveland Guardians organization. The Guardians drafted the flamethrower in the first-round of the 2021 MLB June Amateur Draft, and he made his major league debut in 2023.
On Thursday, Williams made his 26th start of the season against the San Francisco Giants and hit an impressive season milestone for the first time in his career. After striking out eleven batters on Thursday, Williams eclipsed the 200-strikeout plateau for the season. He is tied with AL Cy Young candidate Dylan Cease of the Toronto Blue Jays with 201 strikeouts apiece.
The milestone underscores just how strong a strikeout pitcher Williams has become. Thursday was his ninth start of the season with 10 or more strikeouts, tying him with Cease atop the American League and one back of NL Cy Young favorite Jacob Misiorowski. It is the most double-digit strikeout games for a Cleveland pitcher since Trevor Bauer had 10 in 2018.
Just one year after leading MLB in walks with 83, Williams has turned into an elite swing-and-miss pitcher. He has 48 walks in 154.2 innings this season, compared to the 83 in 167.2 innings in 2025. Williams already has 28 more strikeouts this season than he had all of last year.
Along with rookie Parker Messick, the Guardians have a 1-2 punch that should anchor the rotation for years to come. While Williams likely won’t garner enough attention to knock Cease or New York Yankees pitcher Cam Schlittler from atop the AL Cy Young rankings, he is establishing himself as a premier strikeout pitcher in the league. If he can continue to hit 200 strikeouts per season, a Cy Young Award should be in his future, sooner rather than later.
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