Yankees two-time All-Star shuts down rumors on potential role change

New York Yankees reliever Devin Williams has been going through a resurgence since the team pulled him from the closer role.

New York acquired Williams in a trade with the Milwaukee Brewers this past Winter, but after a rough start, the two-time All-Star was pulled from the closer role. Williams hasn't allowed a run in his past six outings, bringing his ERA from 11.25 to 6.88. 

Though Williams has bounced back recently and returned to form, he's not worried about trying to win back his old role, as he told the New York Daily News.  

“It doesn’t matter right now,” Williams told the Daily News on Tuesday. “It doesn’t matter. I mean, I’m putting up zeros, right? You guys get all caught up in this. It’s always a question. It’s not a thing. If I give up runs in the eighth inning, if I give up runs in the ninth inning, they count the same. It’s the same thing.”

Luke Weaver has taken on the closing role from Williams and has played great. The 31-year-old reliever has a blistering 0.40 ERA, leaving Yankees manager Aaron Boone hesitant to make any changes at this time. 

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“We’ll see,” Boone said. “No plans right now. I feel like so many of our guys down there, Devin included, are throwing the ball really well. Obviously, Luke’s done outstanding in the role. So we’ll see. We’ll just see as we go. I just want to continue to have [Williams] throwing the ball like he is, and he’s going to be in high-leverage situations. That could be closing on a given day, but no plans to do it one way or another right now.”

Williams is in his final year of team control. Though returning to the closing role would help increase his value heading into the offseason, for now, Williams is solely focused on performing, no matter when his number gets called.   

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