Cleveland Guardians fans received some pretty scary news last Sunday when the organization announced that starter Gavin Williams was scratched from his start after he felt discomfort in his elbow. The sophomore starter received an MRI on his arm and the team announced the results to them on Thursday.
President of Baseball Operations Christ Antonetti said that Williams is doubtful to be on the Opening Day roster and will likely start the season on the injured list due to the injury.
The good news here is that his elbow structurally "looked really good," said Antonetti. However, the team doesn't feel they have enough time to have him build up the volume to be able to be on the active roster on day one. Williams will begin to throw again in three to four days and ramp back up to major league level.
Of course, not having one of your top pitchers in the rotation start the season is disappointing. But this is easily the best-case scenario. You always have to hold your breath when talking about elbow injuries, especially with young players. It looks like Gavin got lucky and will still be able to have an effective sophomore season.
Williams looked strong in spring training before being shut down. He had made two starts and had an ERA of 1.93 and nine strikeouts over 4.2 innings pitched. The 24-year-old picked up right where he left off from his impressive rookie season and everyone should be excited about what Williams has one store for year two.
More must-reads: