Let’s Hear From Gavin Williams, and From Others on Cleveland’s Pitching Factory

The Cleveland Guardians are playing postseason baseball for the seventh time in the past 10 seasons, and it’s not because of a prolific offense. The low-budget AL Central club doesn’t score a high number of runs, but neither do its opponents. The Guardians allowed the fewest runs in the junior circuit this year, and only the Houston Astros have been stingier over the past decade. Cleveland’s reputation as a pitching factory is well-earned.

How do Guardians hurlers view the organization’s pitching group, which is fronted at the big league level by pitching coach Carl Willis and includes assistants Brad Goldberg and Joe Torres, as well as bullpen coach Caleb Longshore? I recently asked that question to a quartet of Cleveland pitchers, three of whom are on the current staff, and another who was on the team prior to this summer’s trade deadline.

Before we hear their thoughts, though, it makes sense to touch on the 26-year-old right-hander who is slated to take the mound in this afternoon’s Wild Card Series opener against the Detroit Tigers. I didn’t talk to Gavin Williams about the Guardians pitching group, but I did ask him how his game has grown since we first spoke two years ago.

“Not much has changed other than I’ve added a couple of pitches,” said Williams, who made 31 starts during the regular season and logged a 12-5 record and a 3.06 ERA over 167 2/3 innings. “I’ve added the cutter, and then the sinker. That’s about it.”

Not exactly. Prior to this year, the 6-foot-6, 250-pound East Carolina University product was throwing a slider, which has since been replaced a sweeper. The switch has produced positive results. Last season, Williams allowed a .250 batting average and a .375 slugging percentage with the slider, while the sweeper has elicited a .183 average and a .286 slug.

“I just redefined it, really,” Williams said of his new pitch, which at 19.8% is right behind his curveball (22.2%) in terms of secondary usage. He throws his fastball 37.4% of the time. “[The sweeper]’s got a little bit more horizontal. I’m getting my pointer finger out of the way, [whereas] a slider is more pointer-finger dominant, and I would be getting under the baseball a little too much. Now I’m getting a little bit more [horizontal] on it.”

The velocity changes to his revamped offering were of interest to me. In 2023, his slider averaged 84.9 mph, last year it was 88.6 mph, and this year’s version is 86.6 mph. Asked about the fluctuation, Williams reiterated that he was getting under the baseball too much, resulting in “more of a cutter, while I was trying to get it to be a slider.” As for his going the sweeper route, that was done on his own during the offseason. He told the Guardians braintrust what he was up to, and they supported it.

The extent to which the big right-hander is on board with pitching analytics is limited. While his ears are open, he remains largely old school in his approach.

“I’m not really into [the analytics],” explained Williams, who is 6-1 with a 2.20 ERA over this last 10 starts. “I’m basically just seeing what the ball does. They’ll give me the numbers and [say], ‘That’s what I’m talking about,’ and I go from there. I kind of leave it up to our coaches to know that stuff.”

Which brings us to the pitching factory, particularly as it pertains to the major league level. What makes Willis & Co. so good at what they do?

The pitcher whose thoughts I first gleaned was Paul Sewald, who was with the Guardians before being dealt to Detroit at the end of July in exchange for future considerations.

“I would say that it’s the pitching group,” said Sewald, whose nine-year major league tenure includes toeing the rubber for five different teams. “Now, Carl deserves the most credit — that’s what happens when you’re the head pitching coach — but I want to give credit to the group as a whole. It starts with Eric Binder, who is an assistant GM and also the pitching assistant. Then there are four pitching coaches. Some people might think that is too many cooks in the kitchen, but I don’t see it that way.

“Here, it’s basically, ‘Hey, this person needs a mechanical adjustment, so go work with Joe Torres,’” added Sewald. “If it’s a pitch-mix thing, maybe you need to be with Brad Goldberg. If you’re a reliever, you’re going to have more pull toward [Caleb Longshore], because you’re going to be spending more time with the bullpen coach. I think the Guardians do a really good job of figuring out what every pitcher needs, and which guy on the staff is really good at that. It feels like there are always eight eyes on you at all times.”

The other three pitchers I solicited thoughts from are key contributors to the club that is poised to take on the Tigers, Sewald’s current team.

Joey Cantillo was acquired by Cleveland from San Diego in August 2020 as part of the nine-player trade that also brought current Guardians Gabriel Arias and Austin Hedges to the shores of Lake Erie. Then a 45-FV prospect, Cantillo is now impressing in his first full big league season. Over 34 appearances (including his last 13 as a starter), the 25-year-old right-hander has a 3.21 ERA and a 3.56 FIP over 95 1/3 innings.

“I think it’s unique in a lot of ways,” Cantillo said of the pitching program. “Up here we have [Brad Goldberg], Joe Torres, and then Carl at the top. They kind of give you different information. Joe does one thing, BG does another thing, and Carl kind of oversees everything. They do a good job of taking all of the information and simplifying it, especially Carl on a game basis. It’s like, ‘Hey, how are we going to attack these guys? What pitches are we throwing? When are we throwing them?’”

While in the minors, the Guardians pitching braintrust helped him make several mechanical adjustments that have played meaningfully into his current success at the major league level.

“When I first got here, I wasn’t throwing very hard,” said Cantillo, whose low-to-mid-90s fastball plays up thanks not only to good ride, but also 99th-percentile extension. “When I got drafted I was probably 86-89, and it was kind of, ‘Hey, if I can learn how to throw harder, we can really do some good things.’ I got here and it was, ‘Hey, let’s start to move a little better. Let’s start to move my body a little faster and get it in a better position.’ That’s what we focused on my first couple of years.”

Hunter Gaddis has been in the organization since being drafted 160th overall in 2019 out of Georgia State University. Now 27, the bearded right-hander has come out of the Cleveland bullpen 73 times this season and fashioned a 3.11 ERA and a 3.50 FIP over 66 2/3 innings. Moreover, he has a pair of wins, three saves, and a 26.6% strikeout rate.

“I feel like Carl is our rock of pitching, from the big leagues all the way down,” said Gaddis, whose 151 appearances over the past two seasons is tops on the team. “Everybody know who he is. He knows his stuff — especially with all of the new technology, which everybody is trying to learn, and is constantly changing. He’s the rock to go back to and be like, ‘Hey, at end of the day you’ve got to throw strikes to get outs.’ For me, personally, that’s what it is: Throw strikes, get outs, put a zero on the board. Different numbers are great, and I always want them to be good, and I always want them to be better. But at the end of the day it’s, ‘Get three outs.’ Carl is really good at communicating that.”

One of Gaddis’ bullpen mates offered a similar view.

Tim Herrin has also spent his entire career in the Cleveland organization. A 29th-round pick in 2018 out of Indiana University, the 28-year-old left-hander is now a solid contributor to the Guardians bullpen. Over the past two seasons, he’s made 129 appearances and put up a 3.07 ERA over 108 1/3 innings while serving primarily in a setup role.

“Carl has been here for a long time, and he really knows how to get the best out of people,” Herrin said. “The biggest thing he’s done for me is give me the confidence to just go out there and pitch. Debuting [in 2023], he had my back all the time. It’s important to know that the coaches are there for you, and not just on the field. From top to bottom, throughout every level, the coaches here care about your performance and development, but also about you as a person.

“As relievers, we definitely talk with the bullpen coach more than we do with Carl when it comes to baseball-specific stuff,” Herrin added. “But he’s involved with that as well. You’ve got Carl on top, with his knowledge and passion for the game, and it all trickles down from there. Like I said, from top to bottom, the pitching side of the organization is invested in every one of us. That is part of why we’ve become known as a pitching factory.”