They gave him the ball. They gave him the bag. And now the Bronx is giving him the business. Devin Williams was supposed to be the Yankees’ ninth-inning nightmare-for-hitters, a magician with the ‘Airbender’ changeup and a chip on his shoulder. But what fans saw against the Padres on May 5 looked more like a meltdown than magic. And after shifting blame to the mound and the weather, Devin Williams got hit with a brutal reality check—from an old Yankee who’s been there, done that, and probably still has pinstripes in his closet.
Former Yankees reliever Adam Ottavino, no stranger to the Bronx boos himself, didn’t hold back when he analyzed Devin Williams’ diabolical freefall.
The 2024 All-Star-turned-$8.6 million closer had already been skating on thin Bronx ice before that Padres collapse. Entering the 8th with a 3-0 cushion, Williams walked two, gave up a hit, and left the mound with the bases loaded. By the time Luke Weaver cleaned up (or didn’t), the Yankees had lost 4-3. It was their third straight L and fifth blown late-game lead of the year.
But what really lit the fire was followed.
On Baseball Night in New York, Adam Ottavino discusses Devin Williams’ struggles with the Yankees and what can be done to get him back on track:
Tri-State @Cadillac pic.twitter.com/nZZrFyCMT9
— SNY (@SNYtv) May 6, 2025
“I was battling myself there with the landing spot,” Williams told reporters, pointing fingers at the rain-soaked mound. He tried to walk it back slightly, saying, “It was tough to control the fastball today. I couldn’t figure it out with the release point on my fastball.“
But the damage was done—on the scoreboard, and with the fanbase.
This isn’t Milwaukee. You don’t get grace periods in the Bronx, especially not when you’re carrying a 10.03 ERA after coughing up 13 earned runs in just 11.2 innings. The boos now follow Williams like a shadow.
Amid all this drama, Adam Ottavino, speaking on SNY’s Baseball Night in New York, offered both sympathy and a stern dose of truth knuckles. “Number one, he’s getting unlucky. His batting average on balls in play is too high. It’s unsustainable. And number two, it’s the worst he’s ever pitched in his career.” Well, he’s not wrong!
Adam doubles down: “Clearly, the vibes aren’t where they need to be in the stadium when he’s coming into the game. The snowball’s kind of rolling the wrong direction.”
Things aren’t looking pretty good for Williams. The Yankees #38 is giving up more line drives, inducing fewer grounders, and his signature changeup—the once-feared ‘Airbender’—is now getting tattooed. Scouts say it’s lost some bite. Others wonder if his 2024 back injury is still lingering under the hood.
The Yankees, sensing the unraveling, yanked Williams out of the closer role. Weaver stepped in. The Yankees had a comfortable day against the Padres today with a 12-3 dub. And let’s not forget—this man wasn’t supposed to be a project. The Yanks traded Nestor Cortes and a prospect to get him. He was brought in to lock it down, to be Mariano-lite. Instead, he’s looking like mid-season DFA bait. So yeah, Ottavino’s critique was fair.
And the Bronx crowd? They’re not just impatient—they’re offended. That money, that hype, and then you blame the dirt? What even.
Yankees’ Carlos Rodón wants to chop it up with Devin Williams: “I definitely can relate”
If anyone knows how quickly Yankee Stadium can turn on you, it’s Carlos Rodón. The man heard the same boos last year. So when he watched Williams unravel against the Padres, Rodón didn’t just shake his head. He saw a mirror.
“I definitely can relate to him,” Rodón told the Daily News. “Maybe I need to be better as a teammate and approach him. I can put that one on me.” That ain’t just talk. Rodón was the first guy to greet Williams after his May 5 meltdown, trying to offer some calm in the Bronx storm. Williams, after all, had just watched his three baserunners score thanks to back-to-back daggers from Manny Machado and Xander Bogaerts.
Jun 27, 2024; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; New York Yankees starting pitcher Carlos Rodon (55) pitches to the Toronto Blue Jays during the fifth inning at Rogers Centre. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports
Well, Rodón got roasted last season for underperforming. This year? He’s shutting folks up with a 2.96 ERA and standing ovations. “You saw when I got here. I’ve struggled before. I struggled when I was in Chicago. It’s one of those adversity things you gotta look in the face and kick it in the face.”
Williams did low-key flash a glimmer of hope between outings. Before the Padres game, he had a solid three-game stretch with no earned runs and only one baserunner allowed. But against San Diego, he couldn’t even blame fatigue. It was all in the execution. Still, he stuck to the weather angle postgame. “It’s one of those nights where you’re not only battling the hitter; I was battling the mound,” he said. And look, maybe he was. But in New York, the optics matter. Fans don’t want excuses. They want goose eggs.
Rodón gets that. He tried to keep it real for the media and for Williams. “If you don’t pitch well, you’re gonna get booed. But if you pitch well, they’re gonna praise you. They’re gonna love you,” he said. And he’s not lying. This city is tough love on steroids. You win, you’re a god. You slip, you get cooked.
The Yankees know they need Williams to bounce back. Their bullpen ain’t deep enough to cover for a dead closer. Ottavino called his resume “insanely elite.” Boone said he’s “very close.” But close ain’t close enough when you’re giving up late leads in May. That snowball Ottavino mentioned? It’s rolling fast, and the only way Williams can stop it is by shoving—and shutting up the Bronx one out at a time.
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