I said in 2020 that if Devin Williams had a career befitting of his 2020 season then I wouldn't be mad that he won the Rookie of the Year. Guess what? I ain't mad about it anymore.
In the shadow of the racist, problematic relief man who came before him, Devin Williams has become one of the best relievers in baseball, and now that Hader's gone, he's closing. He has 9 saves since Hader left. How about that? He's already an amazing eighth inning man, and now he can close, too.
I still think that Devin Williams was an odd ROY choice in 2020 because he only appeared in 22 games. Granted, in those 22 games he only gave up 1 run, and out of the 100 batters he faced he struck out 53 of them, but...the 22 games thing was odd for me. He was amazing for ONE MONTH. AUGUST 2020. And then he got injured and the Brewers had no postseason case without him. So...I guess that makes him valuable. It's just vexing because that season was so hard to gauge how a rookie even works, which explains why Randy Arozarena, another 2020 rookie, got the Rookie of the Year award in 2021.
Williams has never had his WAR fall below 1 in a full season. He had a 1.3 as a rookie, a 1.6 last year, and now, in his best season to date, Devin Williams has a 2.0 WAR, 78 strikeouts, a 1.80 ERA, and, yes, those 9 saves, the number of which will probably grow in the next month or so. This sort of stuff, the middle relief magic before slowly taking the ninth, is the exact same stuff Josh Hader did, and Williams might be better because A.) he's not a racist ass, and B.) this is just simply what he's capable of. He is THIS good. And I can't wait to see how much better he's gonna become over time for the Brewers.
Speaking of the Brewers, eh...how's it feel to be the fourth team in a three-man Wild Card race, boys? I'll give 'em this, they've got an easy schedule for the next week or so, but it's not a good sign when your biggest story is some poor fan getting friend zoned ON THE TRON at one of your games. NOT EVEN A 'We'll talk about this after the game'. No, you are letting ALL OF MILWAUKEE KNOW how cuckholded this poor guy, Mark, is. Christian Yelich has already turned the rest of the Brewers' season into 'let's win this for Mark.' How sad is that? When you hear a 'let's win it for this guy' thing, it's mostly 'oh, he's dying', 'oh, she has cancer', 'oh, he's injured and won't be back til next year'. No, the 2022 Milwaukee Brewers season has essentially become a fund to cure Mark's blue balls.
Or 'brew balls' if you will.
I WANT TO SEE THEM KEEP THIS GOING. McCutchen hits a home run and dedicates it to Mark. Corbin Burnes creates an event where if he has more than 10 strikeouts, that means Mark gets a free first date COURTESY OF THE BREWERS. Hell, maybe Matt Bush can give him dating tips. There's so many ways you can take this. Hell, if they win the World Series, BY LAW, she has to at least kiss the poor guy, right? BY LAW.
Look, I'm not sure if the Brewers have enough to stop the Cardinals, or even the NL East guys, from advancing. They could edge out the Padres, especially since they seem to have gotten the better relief piece in the trade, but even that'll be tough. There's a chance they squeeze in, but right now it's about as likely as Mark getting any in the next few months.
...Like, it could happen, but a LOT OF THINGS NEED TO GO RIGHT FOR IT TO HAPPEN.
Coming Tonight: A less funny post, I reckon. A former hits-leader now just a member of the gang in Seattle.
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