Mets Closer Devin Williams: A Strong Start, Yet Room for Growth

SAN FRANCISCO — Devin Williams has started his Mets career relatively smoothly, though he acknowledges there’s still room for improvement.

During his initial appearances on Thursday, Williams—serving as the team’s closer—managed to allow no earned runs while giving up just a single hit, striking out four batters, and walking two. Interestingly, he didn’t pitch in the Mets’ 7-2 defeat against the Giants. “At least we’re getting good results,” he remarked, adding, “I think my command, changeup, and fastball could use some work, so I believe I can improve just by pitching more.”

Williams had a particularly solid outing the previous day, tossing a shutout in the Mets’ 11-inning, 2-1 loss to the Cardinals.

Manager Carlos Mendoza indicated there’s no limitation on Williams’ ability to pitch consecutively early in the season, which begs the question of how that will play out moving forward.

Williams mentioned he started incorporating a cutter during spring training but hasn’t yet utilized it in regular-season games. “I’m feeling good about it,” he said. “It’s there if you need it.”

In other news, Mendoza stated that Jorge Polanco is “close” to returning to playing first base. Polanco has been serving as the designated hitter recently due to discomfort in his left Achilles tendon.

“I just wanted to give him one more day as DH,” Mendoza explained. “He’s feeling better and making progress. We might need that DH position for others soon, so we’re using this extra day wisely.”

Mark Vientos is continuing to fill in at first base, starting his second consecutive game on Thursday.

The Mets kicked off the day with the highest number of base runners—55—sharing the top spot with the Astros. Yet, as a collective, they’re struggling significantly, with only 11 hits out of 68 at-bats in scoring positions, resulting in a .162 batting average. This places them 29th in the league, just above the Reds, who are currently at the bottom.

This marks the second instance in Mets’ history where the team has gone into extra innings in three of their first six games, the last occurrence being in 1991. Coach Mendoza noted that having to record 15 extra outs in the opening week is certainly testing the bullpen’s limits.