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This has already become an early season routine for Aaron Boone.
On multiple occasions, the Yankees manager has been forced to defend Devin Williams — the All-Star closer acquired in the offseason — and adamantly guarantee that Williams, despite what his 10.03 ERA and lost closer job might suggest, remains close to figuring everything out.
And Tuesday, one day after Williams imploded again in the eighth inning of an eventual loss, was no different.
“I still maintain, like, this is not a pitcher we’re trying to reinvent or a guy that’s past his prime,” Boone said before the Yankees and Padres resumed their series in The Bronx. “This is still an elite [pitcher], and all the stuff there is saying that. … I do feel like it’s very close. It’s just about controlling counts a little bit better, and once he does, he’ll ascend real quick.”
When asked if Williams crumbling Monday reset the clock for when he could return to the closer spot, a role that has since been occupied by Luke Weaver, Boone said he didn’t think so.
It wasn’t as if Williams — who went strikeout, walk, single, strikeout, walk before handing off to Weaver with the bases loaded Monday — surrendered homers and other damaging hits.
But this has stretched beyond just a brief concern for the Yankees.
Devin Williams delivers a pitch in the eighth inning during his latest poor outing in the Yankees’ loss to the Padres on May 5, 2025. Corey Sipkin / New York PostThis has become more than just isolated late-game drama in the season opener or a one-off collapse over the course of a 60-appearance campaign.
After Boone temporarily yanked him from the closer role, Williams responded with three straight scoreless — and hitless — outings entering Monday.
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That resembled the version of the pitcher who made consecutive All-Star Games in 2022 and 2023, and was supposed to anchor the Yankees bullpen late in games this season.
That looked more like the version of Williams who could dictate games by mixing his fastball and Airbender changeup.
Devin Williams walks off the mound after being taken out of the game by Aaron Boone during the Yankees’ loss to the Padres on May 5, 2025. Corey Sipkin / New York Post“I feel like the last few, it’s been good,” Boone said. “And again, I don’t feel like it’s a situation where he’s all over the place. It’s just missing a little out of the zone with his fastball.”
Still, the Yankees dilemma at the end of games has stretched into a second week.
The Yankees have time to get Williams into a groove, unlike last year when their Clay Holmes conundrum boiled over in the final stretch of the regular season.
Boone will continue to find high-leverage spots and preferably clean innings — like Monday, when the Yankees needed to protect a three-run lead and the Padres had the bottom of their order up — to position Williams for a chance at creating some momentum.
For three games, that worked. For three games, it appeared as if the Yankees were on track to get their closer back.
Then Monday transpired, and Boone was left to defend Williams once again.
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