Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

Devin Williams Can’t Catch a Break, ERA Remains in Double Digits

The Yankees’ bullpen is in flames!

Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

“Gut-punch.”

That’s the phrase Aaron Boone usually saves for the worst losses. And if this keeps up, he might as well tattoo it on the Yankees’ dugout wall. Because if Monday night’s collapse is anything to go by, this team is in for a long, exhausting season, one where even a three-run lead feels unsafe.

For all their flaws, a shaky rotation, an offense that can be streaky, the Yankees were at least supposed to have a bullpen. That’s what made the Devin Williams signing feel like a coup in December. Now? It feels like a gamble that’s imploding in real time.

Devin Williams, stripped of his closer duties just a week ago, found himself in another high-leverage spot on Monday night. The result? Complete chaos. And yet another meltdown. The 30-year-old gave up three earned runs in the eighth, turning a 3-0 lead into a 4-3 loss to the Padres at a rain-soaked Yankee Stadium. Two walks, a single, and just two outs later, Boone had seen enough. Williams exited with the bases loaded and boos raining down.

FOUR-RUN INNING AND THE PADRES LEAD!!
pic.twitter.com/4CO6j1Zf18
— Just Baseball (@JustBB_Media) May 6, 2025

It didn’t get better from there.

ALSO READ: Devin Williams Opens Up After Losing Yankees Closer Job in Just 10 Games

Luke Weaver, previously spotless in 15 innings this season, promptly gave up back-to-back hits, a two-run double by Manny Machado and a two-run single from Xander Bogaerts, to flip the game completely.

And just like that, another wasted outing for Carlos Rodon. Another blown lead. Another gut-punch.

Yankees Need to Find a Solution to Devin Williams’ Struggles

This marked the Yankees’ fifth loss of the season when leading in the eighth inning or later, the most in MLB. Williams has played a starring role in three of them.

Here’s the number that stings the most: 13 earned runs in 11 2/3 innings.
That’s already equal to the total runs he gave up in the past two years combined – 80 1/3 innings with Milwaukee.

To spell it out:

2021: 15 ER over 54 IP
2022: 13 ER over 60.2 IP
2023: 10 ER over 58.2 IP
2024: 3 ER over 21.2 IP
2025: 13 ER over 11.2 IP

This is not a slump. This is a disaster.

And it’s especially painful because the Yankees didn’t just bring Williams in to be a setup man, they handed him the ninth inning, counting on his signature “Airbender” changeup and his 1.83 career ERA to lock down wins. Instead, he’s become a liability in any inning.

After today I never need to see Devin Williams throw a pitch for the Yankees again I think. https://t.co/v8UitnpA8G
— Ryan Garcia (@RyanGarciaESM) May 6, 2025

Even Boone’s backup plan didn’t save them. Weaver finally cracked, and the Padres took full advantage. Anthony Volpe’s sacrifice fly in the sixth, which had given New York a 3-0 cushion, ended up as little more than a footnote.

ALSO READ: Yankees Top Prospect George Lombard Jr. Climbs to Double-A: Why the Timing Matters

What the Yankees have now is a bullpen in crisis, and a high-priced reliever in Williams who can’t be trusted in the late innings. If this team wants to stay atop the AL East, it better find answers fast. Because if Devin Williams keeps pitching like this, “gut-punch” is going to become the story of the season.

Devin Williams

Yankees

Mohsin Baldiwala

mlb

Mohsin Baldiwala is a Master’s student in Journalism and freelance content producer who got hooked on baseball through Seinfeld’s hapless George Costanza. The same reason why he’s a Yankees fan. He writes about sports because he believes it can offer a brief escape from the world’s chaos. Even if that means enduring the heartbreak of the 2024 World Series.