Young Guardians Starting Pitcher Must Bounce Back In 2025

Gavin Williams could be the key difference-maker for the Cleveland Guardians during the 2025 season.

Jul 25, 2024; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Guardians starting pitcher Gavin Williams (32) throws a pitch during the first inning against the Detroit Tigers at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images / Ken Blaze-Imagn Images

It's no secret the Cleveland Guardians' starting rotation in 2024 was the team's weak spot. It's also no secret that the Guardians haven't made too many moves to improve their rotation, outside of trading for RHP Luis Ortiz.

These limited upgrades and Cleveland's youth are putting a lot of pressure on the entire rotation to take a step forward or bounce back in 2025, especially Gavin Williams.

Williams put together a respectable rookie campaign in 2023 and was primed to take a leap during his sophomore season. However, an elbow injury during spring training pushed back his debut until July 3.

In his 16 starts during the 2024 regular season, Williams had a 4.86 ERA, a 1.37 WHIP, and an 84 ERA+.

His biggest issue all season was keeping the ball in the ballpark. Williams gave up seven home runs in 2024, which is one shy of how many he gave up in 2023.

On top of the home runs, Williams also gave up plenty of hard contact, which stacked up and led to long innings during his starts.

A healthy and productive Gavin Williams could be the difference between the Guardians having multiple question marks in their rotation or a legit one-two punch between himself and Tanner Bibee (until Shane Bieber returns).

Cleveland desperately needs him to stay healthy and bounce back from his woes from a year ago.

Sep 2, 2024; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Cleveland Guardians starting pitcher Gavin Williams (32) pitches during the third inning against the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images / Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images

Let's be clear: Despite his 2024 stats, Williams still has the talent and potential to be a top arm in Cleveland's rotation.

His fastball velocity last season was 96.6 mph, which ranked in the 88th percentile in the league. Williams also did a good job with his strike zone command with his heater.

The problem was that he overly relied on this pitch to get outs in big moments, which caused some of the home runs and hard contact.

Williams threw his four-seamer 51.5 percent of the time,e and his next most-used pitch was his curveball, which was thrown just 19.8 percent of the time.

Developing that secondary off-speed or breaking pitch will be crucial for Williams next season.

The Guardians don't need Williams to be in Cy Young contention to have a successful season. (However, that would be pretty nice).

However, Cleveland needs Williams to be an effective pitcher in its rotation for the Guardians to be a legitimate playoff contender in 2025.