Article: Should Team USA Start Devin Williams in the WBC Championship Game?

[Matthew Trueblood]

We live in the age of the opener. The popularity and utility of that strategy have peaked and begun to decline, but looking at both rosters and considering everything at stake, Team USA might be best-served to deploy it Tuesday night.

Image courtesy of © Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports

There’s no realistic scenario in which Devin Williams doesn’t pitch for Team USA tonight. Merrill Kelly is not going deep into this game against Samurai Japan’s loaded lineup. That lineup is stacked with left-handed batters, and Team USA is far from similarly rich in left-handed pitchers. Aaron Loup will surely get an inning, or at least part of one, but he’s vulnerable to the right-handed hitters lurking on Hideki Kuriyama’s bench, and he did pitch (albeit very briefly) Sunday night against Cuba. Kyle Freeland could be asked to work a couple of innings, but if we’re honest with ourselves, Freeland isn’t good enough to trust him much against the lethal lefties in the heart of Japan’s lineup: Shohei Ohtani, Masataka Yoshida, and Munetaka Murakami.

Jason Adam and David Bednar have great career numbers against lefties, but the samples are small and there are warning signs, too. Ryan Pressly is fine, and can wait for the ninth inning to protect any lead the Americans are able to build. Nick Martinez hasn’t pitched since the group stage of the tournament, and after going to NPB to rehab his career, he might have insight on how to attack some of the key Japanese hitters.

It’s Williams, though, who has the dominant and unmixed track record. He’s got the screwball known as the Airbender, a pitch that can twist away from those left-handed sluggers and frustrate them, including inducing a lot of swings and misses.

Devin Williams, 85mph Airbender. 🛸 pic.twitter.com/AXjWRqb35p

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) March 19, 2023

I think Kelly can give the team nine outs Tuesday night. Loup, Adam, Bednar, and Pressly are all good for three apiece. That’s 21 outs, leaving six more for which Mark DeRosa and Andy Pettitte need to account. I don’t think they could do better than to give Williams the ball to open things and see if they can get all six from him. If not, they could always turn to Kendall Graveman to get a batter or two at the bottom of the Japan order, preserving a sense of routine for Kelly and lining him up to come in for the third frame. 

Williams got at least four outs three times last September, without incident. He’s capable of getting down and back up without losing his stuff or command. He’s one of the most gifted pitchers in the sport and the best bet to hang a couple of zeros at the front end of Samurai Japan’s line score. With the World Baseball Classic championship on the line, Team USA should ask him to set the tone.

Would the Brewers allow that? As a Brewers fan, would you be ok with seeing your relief ace stretched out that way? It’s a fair set of questions, but also a great reminder that we need to reframe them. While Williams is playing for Team USA, he and his coaches there should have the discretion to decide what risk he takes with his career in the pursuit of glory. It’s also the case that relievers like Williams often try to stretch slightly and practice getting up and down at this stage of Cactus or Grapefruit League play. This setting couldn’t be more different than that one, but then, that’s the whole point.

 

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[wiguy94]

Devin Williams isn't allowed to pitch in more than one inning. It's why he only pitched 1 out against Mexico.

[Brock Beauchamp]

21 minutes ago, wiguy94 said:

Devin Williams isn't allowed to pitch in more than one inning. It's why he only pitched 1 out against Mexico.

WBC pitching restriction, I assume? Somehow I wasn't aware of that rule.

[Brock Beauchamp]

Hey @wiguy94 I just scanned three articles on the rules and I don't see anything about innings limits. Am I missing something?

https://www.sportingnews.com/us/mlb/news/world-baseball-classic-pitcher-rules-pitch-count-usage/nj6pltcxyabog5qbuyff8dqg

[wiguy94]

12 minutes ago, Brock Beauchamp said:

WBC pitching restriction, I assume? Somehow I wasn't aware of that rule.

No Brewers restriction. DeRosa talked about it in his postgame after the Mexico game.

[Brock Beauchamp]

7 minutes ago, wiguy94 said:

No Brewers restriction. DeRosa talked about it in his postgame after the Mexico game.

Ah, okay, thanks!