Devin Williams exited the field on Wednesday night, and before heading out, he had some words for umpire Brian Walsh.
“I had four strikes,” he seemingly remarked about a pitch he felt was miscalled, contributing to the Astros’ 8-7 win over his team. “You missed the four.”
Walsh ended up ejecting Williams, marking a significant moment in the veteran’s career. Not long after, Yankees manager Aaron Boone was also tossed, following his complaints about several missed calls.
A report stated that Walsh was off on 21 calls that night, with 15 of those impacting the Yankees negatively.
Williams reinforced his earlier comments, suggesting Walsh had really squeezed him on calls.
“I’ve already seen it. He definitely missed four. I told him that, and he dumped me,” Williams reflected after the game, in which he let up four runs, including a double and three walks. “When I’m making good pitches, it’s frustrating when those calls don’t go my way—they can change the flow of the inning.”
Let’s dive into a few pitches that Williams contended should have been ruled strikes.
Jesus Sanchez 0-0 Pitch
Williams specifically pointed out two missed calls during Sanchez’s at-bat.
During a tense 4-4 situation with Carlos Correa on second and no outs, Williams threw a 96-mph pitch that seemed to barely clip the zone.
Both MLB.com and the baseball Savant Box revealed that the pitch just grazed the strike zone.
The fact that catcher Austin Wells needed to stretch across his body might have affected Walsh’s verdict.
Jesus Sanchez 1-1 Pitch
With a 1-1 count, Williams fired a 95 mph fastball to the outer corner of the plate.
Again, both MLB.com and the Savant Box indicated that it should have been a strike.
However, Walsh consulted with the third base umpire about Sanchez’s position. When the call went against Williams, the pitch was ruled a ball.
Sanchez ultimately walked on five pitches, setting up a risky situation for the Yankees.
“In the end, it changes the game,” Williams lamented. “Sanchez shouldn’t have been in that position; it shouldn’t have been 2-1.”
Taylor Tramel 2-0 Pitch
As Williams faced Houston’s No. 9 batter, Taylor Tramel, with the bases loaded, he had already registered two strikeouts and allowed a walk.
According to MLB.com and baseball’s Savant Box, a 96-mph fastball appeared to find the strike zone after Williams fell behind 2-0.
Nonetheless, Walsh called it a ball, pushing Williams closer to a major mistake.
“That 2-0 pitch was a strike,” Williams said. “Instead of having a 3-1 count, it should have been 2-2.”
Taylor Tramel 3-1 Pitch
The last pitch Williams threw was particularly impactful, pushing the Yankees deeper into a hole.
While facing a 3-1 count with the bases loaded, Williams threw an 86-mph changeup that Walsh ruled a ball.
There’s ongoing debate about whether that pitch was indeed a strike.
Wells seemed to present the pitch well, yet some replays suggested it was outside the zone, although the MLB pitch tracker showed it just below the zone. Meanwhile, Baseball Savant deemed it a strike.
The walk handed the Astros their lead, and Kamilo Doval struggled thereafter, giving up three inherited runs and extending their lead to 8-4.
The Yankees did manage to rally with three runs in the ninth, but the game concluded unfavorably, marked by a missed pitch to Wilson Jazz Chisholm.
Williams noted:
