Bronx, New York, USA; New York Yankees relief pitcher Devin Williams (38) delivers a pitch during the ninth inning against the Baltimore Orioles at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

Yankees Manager Shares Blunt Reality for Struggling Closer

Originally posted on New York Yankees on SI
By Delilah Bourque | Last updated Jun 27, 2025 9:00 AM ET

New York Yankees reliever Devin Williams has been struggling all season. In April, he was benched in favor of Luke Weaver, and had some shaky performances when he was back in the regular lineup after Weaver suffered a hamstring injury.

Now, according to Yankees insider Bryan Hoch on X, the platform previously known as Twitter, manager Aaron Boone is limiting Williams to just one inning per game.

"Aaron Boone said Williams is 'here as a one-inning guy.' Boone said there might be a scenario where Williams gets four outs, but the Yanks aren't prepared to send him out for two innings," the post read.

Devin Williams: "I feel like the bullpen works better when guys are going one inning." Aaron Boone said Williams is "here as a one-inning guy." Boone said there might be a scenario where Williams gets four outs, but the Yanks aren't prepared to send him out for two innings.
— Bryan Hoch ⚾️ (@BryanHoch) June 25, 2025

Williams, for his part, seemed to agree with the one-inning only strategy.

"I feel like the bullpen works better when guys are going one inning," Williams said, per Hoch's post.

The Yankees gave it a try the other night in a disappointing extra-inning 4-5 loss to the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday. Starting pitcher Carlos Rodón held the Reds to just four hits in six innings, with no runs scored. Boone pulled him from the game, citing excess heat and humidity as factors for doing so, in favor of Jonathan Loáisiga.

It was then that disaster struck. In just one third of an inning, Loáisiga (who was unavailable the next day due to illness) gave up three hits and three earned runs, leading the Yankees to pull him from the game. Fernando Cruz finished the inning out, leaving the score tied at the bottom of the 7th inning.

Weaver (who is now back from injury) and Williams then pitched a full inning each, neither of them giving up a single run, and Weaver allowing the only hit between the two. A frustrating lack of run support through the innings pitched by Weaver and Williams left the game on the table, and New York walked away with a loss in the 10th when Mark Leiter Jr. gave up three hits and two runs.

While it seems as though the one inning per reliever strategy is working from a defensive standpoint, the Yankees need to solve their hitting problems.

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