Devin Terran Williams (born September 21, 1994) is an American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

for the

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division. The Brewers are named for t ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB). He made his MLB debut in 2019 and was named the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

's rookie of the year and relief pitcher of the year in 2020.

Career

Early career

Williams attended

Christian Brothers College High School Christian Brothers College High School (CBC High School) is a Lasallian Catholic college preparatory school for young men in Town and Country, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis. It is located in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Saint Louis and is ...

until his sophomore year when he transferred to

Hazelwood West High School Hazelwood West High School is a public high school in the Hazelwood School District located in North St. Louis County, Missouri, United States. History Hazelwood West High School began in 1974, with the first graduating class in 1975. Due to ov ...

Hazelwood, Missouri Hazelwood is a city in St. Louis County, Missouri, within Greater St. Louis. It is a second-ring northern suburb of St. Louis. Based on the 2020 United States census, the city had a total population of 25,485. It is located north of St. Louis-Lam ...

. The

selected him in the second round, with the 54th overall selection, of the

2013 MLB draft The 2013 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft was held from June 6 through June 8, 2013. The first two rounds were broadcast from Studio 42 of the MLB Network in Secaucus, New Jersey. Each team received one selection per round, going in ...

. He signed with the Brewers for a $1.35 million

signing bonus A signing bonus or sign-on bonus is a sum of money paid to a new employee (including a professional sports person) by a company as an incentive to join that company. They are often given as a way of making a compensation package more attractive ...

rather than enroll at the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Universit ...

. During

spring training Spring training is the preseason in Major League Baseball (MLB), a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for Schedule (workplace), roster and position spo ...

in 2017, Williams tore the

ulnar collateral ligament of the elbow The ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) or internal lateral ligament is a thick triangular ligament at the medial aspect of the elbow uniting the distal aspect of the humerus to the proximal aspect of the ulna. Structure It consists of two portion ...

. He underwent

Tommy John surgery Ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction, colloquially known as Tommy John surgery (TJS), is a surgical graft procedure where the ulnar collateral ligament in the medial elbow is replaced with either a tendon from elsewhere in the patient's bo ...

and missed the entire season. In 2019, he was chosen to represent the Brewers at the

All-Star Futures Game The All-Star Futures Game is an annual baseball exhibition game hosted by Major League Baseball (MLB) in conjunction with the mid-summer MLB All-Star Game. A team of American League-affiliated prospects competes against a team of National League ...

Milwaukee Brewers

On August 5, 2019, the Brewers selected Williams' contract and promoted him to the major leagues. He made his debut on August 7 against the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

PNC Park PNC Park is a baseball stadium on the North Shore (Pittsburgh), North Shore of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is the fifth home of the Pittsburgh Pirates of Major League Baseball (MLB). It was opened during the 2001 Major League Baseball season, ...

. In 13 appearances with the 2019 Brewers, Williams pitched to a 3.95

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

(ERA) while striking out 14 batters in

innings pitched In baseball, innings pitched (IP) are the number of innings a pitcher has completed, measured by the number of batters and baserunners that are put out while the pitcher is on the pitching mound in a game. Three outs made is equal to one innin ...

. Williams was named the NL Reliever of the Month for September 2020. In 13 innings he surrendered just four hits, no runs and recorded 24 strikeouts. On October 5, 2020, Williams was named MLB Reliever of the Year, capturing 12 of 17 votes. Williams had a breakout year finishing with an ERA of 0.33, surrendering just 18 hits in 27 innings and 53 strikeouts. He struck out over half the batters he faced in 22 appearances. On November 9, 2020, Williams was named the

NL Rookie of the Year In Major League Baseball, the Rookie of the Year Award is given annually to two outstanding rookie players, one each for the American League (AL) and National League (NL), as voted on by the Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA). The aw ...

, becoming the first relief pitcher to win the award since

Craig Kimbrel Craig Michael Kimbrel (born May 28, 1988) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Philadelphia Phillies of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the San Diego Padres, Boston Red Sox, Atlanta Braves, Chicag ...

in 2011. His 0.33 ERA was the lowest in a single season with at least 21 innings pitched since

earned runs In baseball, an earned run is any run that was fully enabled by the offensive team's production in the face of competent play from the defensive team. Conversely, an unearned run is a run that would not have been scored without the aid of an err ...

became an official statistic in 1913. Williams returned to the Brewers' bullpen for the 2021 season. After allowing only a single earned run in 14 relief appearances during August, he was named NL Reliever of the Month for the second time. On September 29, 2021, it was announced that Williams would miss the remainder of the season after fracturing his pitching hand after drinking alcohol and punching a wall following the celebrations following the team's NL Central Division title clinch the Sunday before. In October 2022, it was announced that Williams intended to represent Team USA in the 2023 World Baseball Classic.

Pitching style

Williams has two primary pitches: 4-seam fastball and a

circle changeup In baseball, a circle changeup (also called the "okay changeup", related to the thumb and index finger touching) is a pitch (baseball), pitch thrown with a grip that includes a circle formation, hence the name circle changeup. The circle is fo ...

with screwball-like movement while rotating the ball off the ring finger during release, which is also similar to a

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

leg-spinner Leg spin is a type of spin bowling in cricket. A leg spinner bowls right-arm with a wrist spin action. The leg spinner's normal delivery causes the ball to spin from right to left (from the bowler's perspective) when the ball bounces on the ...

bowling a

googly In the game of cricket, a googly refers to a type of delivery bowled by a right-arm leg spin bowler. It is different from the normal delivery for a leg-spin bowler in that it is turning the other way. The googly is ''not'' a variation of the ...

, but at a much faster pace of around 85 mph and with a very high spin-rate of 2852 rpm. He also has a rarely-used cutter and sinker. In 2020, due to the increased movement on the changeup, he increased its usage and often used it as a strikeout pitch. He refers to his changeup as the "Airbender," a

nickname A nickname is a substitute for the proper name of a familiar person, place or thing. Commonly used to express affection, a form of endearment, and sometimes amusement, it can also be used to express defamation of character. As a concept, it is ...

coined by

Rob Friedman Rob Friedman (born 1950) is an American media executive. He was the Co-Chairman of Lionsgate Motion Picture Group, overseeing all aspects of Lionsgate’s domestic and international feature film acquisition, production and distribution as well ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Devin 1994 births Living people People from Florissant, Missouri Baseball players from Missouri Major League Baseball pitchers Major League Baseball Rookie of the Year Award winners Milwaukee Brewers players National League All-Stars Arizona League Brewers players Helena Brewers players Wisconsin Timber Rattlers players Brevard County Manatees players Carolina Mudcats players Biloxi Shuckers players San Antonio Missions players African-American baseball players