In the most important ways, Trevor Williams’ Cubs debut couldn’t have gone any better. That is to say, his family was there watching and supporting him, thrilled by what they got to see.
I’ll mark that down as the most important thing:
The family of Trevor Williams sat a few rows back of home plate for his Cubs debut thanks to Jason Heyward, who insisted on buying their tickets. The lifelong Cubs fans cheered on as he earned the win.
Said Williams: "Just a really special moment for my family and me."
— Chris Emma (@CEmma670) April 6, 2021
"I'm a Little League dad and dreams come true. They really, really do and today was a beautiful day."
Monday night was a magical evening at Wrigley Field for the Williams family:https://t.co/rPoklwgtPy
— Tony Andracki (@TonyAndracki23) April 6, 2021
Williams family enjoys magical night at Wrigley Field
🙋♂️➡️: https://t.co/z5djWZdOfk pic.twitter.com/NnfHpP01ZY
— Marquee Sports Network (@WatchMarquee) April 6, 2021
But the performance, too, was nearly as magical. Williams was perfect through five innings, holding onto a shutout through six innings, and being charged with a couple runs only after he’d departed the game in the seventh. On the whole, Williams went 6.0 innings, allowing just two earned runs on two hits and two walks. He struck out six, and generated an eye-popping 17 whiffs on 85 pitches.
It wasn’t just a great first start with the Cubs or a great start for Williams, it was one of the best starts in baseball last night:
April 5th CSW Leaders:
1. Williams: 38.8
2. deGrom: 36.4
3. De León: 35.8
4. Rogers: 35.1
5. Rodón: 34.7
6. May: 34.1
7. Matz: 34.1
8. Montgomery: 32.9
9. Morejon: 32.8
10. Brubaker: 31.7— Alex Fast (@AlexFast8) April 6, 2021
That’s Williams, just ahead of Jacob deGrom, in getting the highest percentage of called strikes and swinging strikes on the night. He had all five of his pitches working, with at least four of those called strikes/whiffs coming on each of his five pitches – four-seamer, sinker, changeup, curveball, slider. It just all worked for him.
One of the best parts about Williams’ outing, in addition to the strike and strikeouts, obviously, is that he allowed just ONE ball in play that, based on the quality of contact, had a better than .400 expected batting average (the single he gave up to Avisail Garcia that ended his night). He had a whopping eight balls in play that had xBA of .170 or under (i.e., terrible contact).
We’ll see how Williams looks the next time out, but for last night, he clearly carried forward the work he’d put in for Spring Training in getting his mechanics back to where they were a couple years ago, and when you can command five different big-league-caliber pitches, you’re going to have success.
Trevor Williams abandoned his full arsenal and had injuries throw off his mechanics in recent years. But in his debut with the Cubs, he boasted five solid pitches and was "as impressive as it gets" against the Brewers Monday night. https://t.co/zV0JVTo8dB
— Sahadev Sharma (@sahadevsharma) April 6, 2021
A couple more bits:
What did Contreras think made Trevor Williams so effective Monday night?
"Man, strike one. Strike one makes the difference," said the catcher. "It basically was strike one almost to every hitter. That opens a lot of doors."
Indeed, Williams filled up the zone on 1st pitch. pic.twitter.com/mCK7W6TzWA
— Jordan Bastian (@MLBastian) April 6, 2021
"I would say it was fun to play behind, but I got a little bored out there in center field," Jake Marisnick quipped about Trevor WIlliams' outing. "But, that's a good day."
— Jordan Bastian (@MLBastian) April 6, 2021