When the New York Yankees acquired Devin Williams, fans imagined unbreakable nine innings. The two-time Reliever of the Year arrived with his legendary “Airbender” changeup. He had a career ERA barely over 2.00 from his dominant Brewers tenure. So, Williams was supposed to be the final, unhittable piece for a championship-worthy bullpen. But the reality through late April 2025 painted a very different picture.

Williams has struggled poorly in his first ten games, putting up some horrid stats. His ERA inflated to 11.25 with a sky-high 2.38 WHIP over just eight innings. Following a disastrous blown save against Toronto, where he failed to record an out, manager Aaron Boone made an immediate adjustment. Boone mentioned that Williams was temporarily removed from the closer role.

Taking his place is Luke Weaver, who’s been tossing 14 scoreless innings with a 0.71 WHIP.

And in the midst of this unexpected turmoil, former Yankee great and current ESPN analyst David Cone offered some sharp advice. On the ‘Baseball Tonight with Buster Olney’ podcast, Cone diagnosed Williams as overly reliant on his signature pitch. He observed the $8.6 million pitcher “really relies on his change up” and noted “he doesn’t have great command of it as of yet.” Cone saw “a guy that’s a little bit lost that kind of needs to find his formula again.”

His blunt suggestion? Maybe a couple multi-inning middle relief outings would help him find his groove.

Cone’s analysis about the changeup hits a little too close to home when looking at the numbers. Williams indeed threw his Airbender at a rate of over 55% earlier in the year. But the magic vanished. Its whiff rate plunged to only 22%, which is way below his usual 40%-plus marks. Hitters batted the pitch for a .273 average, a significant resurgence from previous years below .100.

The Williams-pitch that once baffled hitters suddenly became a liability, giving runs away rather than preventing them. And a lack of command warranted hittable changeups over the plate.

And now, one question is looming over fans, management, and the baseball community…

Can Williams reclaim his closer magic for the Yankees?

It was more than a failure with one pitch, showing a deeper statistical collapse. It felt like Williams was suddenly no longer the elite strikeout artist he’d been before, as his K-rate dropped from nearly 39% career-wise to just 18.2%. Walks, always a slight concern, surged dramatically to almost 16%. This resulted in a dismal ratio of only 1.1 strikeouts for every walk issued. Overall, opponents hit .343 against him.

These numbers painted a different picture from the one the Yankees dealt for a dominant closer, far from their own bullpen saviors.

Not even Williams’ secondary pitch (four-seam fastball) provided an escape. Its velocity dropped to approximately 93.7 mph, significantly down from recent seasons. Hitters absolutely feasted on it, posting a .462 batting average and .615 slugging percentage.

When both your main weapon and your setup pitch get hammered consistently, it signals a serious, multi-faceted problem for any pitcher.

So, what happens next for the struggling reliever?

Manager Aaron Boone stressed the move is temporary. He said, “For right now, I’m gonna take him out of that role… You’ve still got everything to be great.” Boone expects Williams to find his form, saying, “I fully expect him to be a central figure for us moving forward.”

Williams himself acknowledged the demotion wasn’t surprising considering his play.“Being a closer is a position you have to earn… Lately, I haven’t been doing that,” he admitted.

So, for now, the answer is uncertain about Devin Williams‘ rediscovering his magic of the Airbender and becoming the dominant force the Yankees desperately need in their bullpen.