Gavin Williams Rehab Start Recap, Cleveland Guardians News

Cleveland Guardians: Gavin Williams threw 82 pitches in his latest rehab start with the Columbus Clippers.

Jul 21, 2023; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Guardians starting pitcher Gavin Williams (63) throws a pitch during the first inning against the Philadelphia Phillies at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports / Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports

The Cleveland Guardians are eager to see Gavin Williams make his season debut. He hasn’t thrown a big league pitch yet this season due to an elbow injury and setback he suffered during spring training. 

Williams has been working his way back with a handful of rehab starts and his latest one came on Thursday afternoon. 

He pitched 4.0 innings, gave up three hits, and one earned run, walked two batters, and struck out six hitters. 

Cleveland #Guardians RHP Gavin Williams struckout six batters today for Columbus in his rehab start allowing just one run over 4.0 innings of work against Omaha. Williams threw 82 Pitches and topped out at 98.7 mph.

Line - 4.0(IP) 3H 1R 1ER 2BB 6SO (82 Pitches 51 Strikes)… pic.twitter.com/YHk2Y0qfI8

— Guardians Prospective (@CleGuardPro) June 27, 2024

The biggest takeaway from this appearance was that Williams threw 82 pitches. Stephen Vogt said on multiple occasions that, right now, Williams’ goal is to continue to build up his pitch count in each start. This is the most pitches he’s thrown in a rehab appearance so far and is getting closer to a pitch count of a typical major league start.

Williams’s fastball accounted for 61 percent of the pitches he threw in this start. The four-seamer had a max velocity of 98.7 mph and his average was 96.2 which is slightly higher than his fastball velocity during the 2023 season (95.7 mph).  Williams also got 11 swings and missed in the 50 heaters he threw. 

Aug 29, 2023; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Cleveland Guardians starting pitcher Gavin Williams (63) pitches in the first inning against the Minnesota Twins at Target Field. Mandatory Credit: Bruce Kluckhohn-USA TODAY Sports / Bruce Kluckhohn-USA TODAY Sports

Based on the advanced stats and box score, it certainly appears that Williams is getting closer to making his return to the Guardians rotation. However, it wouldn’t be surprising for him to make one or two more rehab starts. 

Elbow injuries are nothing to cut corners with and making sure that Williams is fully healthy before returning should be the number one priority no matter how badly the Guardians need pitching.