Guardians: Gavin Williams heats up in June

CLEVELAND — It was a pretty good month for right-hander Gavin Williams, who posted a 2.57 ERA over five starts in June. He wasn't impressed. "I think I have a lot of work still. I mean, some people think it was good, but in my stance, I think it's all right," said Williams, who didn't allow more than three runs in any of the June outings, while pitching at least six innings in three of them. "I think I can do a lot better than what I did. "Filling up the strike zone a little bit more, I feel like I had a little too many walks (13 over 28 innings). I felt like I was spraying the ball sometimes. So just be more consistent with that." "This is as good as we've seen Gavin in the last month," manager Stephen Vogt said. "He's worked extremely hard. He went through a lot last year with the injury to the elbow, never really finding himself. "Great spring training (this year), then not off to a great start, but made adjustments all along the way, added a cutter, added his sinker. It's incredible how quickly he has implemented it. Gavin's future right now is really exciting." The adjustment Vogt is talking about is a mechanical change in Williams' delivery that he and pitching coach Carl Willis implemented recently. "My hands are right there at my chest level, just to create more length with my arm path," said Williams, who is 5-3 with a 3.68 ERA in 16 starts this year, while striking out 80 over 80 2/3 innings. "It's definitely strange. It's something I've done in the past. I'm trying to get back to it a little bit. "It is very difficult (to make the adjustment midseason), especially going back to the old ways that I used to have. It can get frustrating at times, but I just gotta do it." Williams also credits the development of a cutter with helping his progression. The pitch began as a slider and morphed into another form of a fastball. "I was definitely trying to make it a slider last year, but it didn't happen that way," he said. "At this point, you can call it a slider from last year or a cutter from this year. It definitely helps out. I can throw that really in any count that I need it." Chris Assenheimer at (440) 329-7136 or cassenheimer@chroniclet.com. Like him on Facebook and follow him @CAwesomeheimer on X.