Gavin Williams has turned Cleveland’s October run into a strikeout showcase, and the Guardians right-hander will bring that power arm back home for Game 3 of the American League Championship Series against Tampa Bay on Thursday afternoon.
A high-strikeout season reaches the ALCS
Williams is scheduled to start Thursday at 1 p.m. ET in Cleveland, with TBS, truTV, UniMas and HBO Max carrying the game. He arrives after overwhelming the White Sox in the Division Series, where he fanned 24 hitters over the five games, including 12 in the clinching Game 5.
The Rays present a different assignment. Tampa Bay finished the regular season with baseball’s lowest team strikeout rate, while Chicago ranked among the clubs that swung through the most pitches. Still, Williams has established himself as one of the game’s toughest starters to square up.
- Regular season: 32 starts, 184 1/3 innings, 3.76 ERA and an American League-leading 248 strikeouts.
- Postseason to date: 24 strikeouts against the White Sox in the ALDS.
- Combined total: 272 strikeouts, the most in the Majors, ahead of Jacob Misiorowski’s 263.
- Next start: ALCS Game 3 in Cleveland on Thursday.
His 272 punchouts already put him near the top of the decade’s combined regular-season and postseason leaderboards. Only three pitchers in the 2020s have finished a year with more:
- Spencer Strider: 296 in 2023.
- Gerrit Cole: 280 in 2022.
- Tarik Skubal: 277 in 2025.
The road toward 300
Williams has at least one more ALCS assignment ahead and could receive another if the series extends. Fifteen additional strikeouts would move him into the neighborhood of the decade’s leading totals. Should Cleveland earn a World Series berth, 300 for the full season would become a realistic target.
Since 2000, a pitcher has reached 300 combined strikeouts in a regular season and postseason only 11 times. Seven pitchers account for those seasons:
- Randy Johnson: 2000, 2001 and 2002.
- Curt Schilling: 2001 and 2002.
- Clayton Kershaw: 2015.
- Chris Sale: 2017.
- Max Scherzer: 2018.
- Justin Verlander: 2018 and 2019.
- Gerrit Cole: 2019.
That is the class Williams is chasing, though the immediate task is a Rays lineup built to put the ball in play. Tampa Bay’s contact-oriented approach will test whether Williams can continue piling up swings and misses against a more disciplined opponent.
Velocity, extension and a cleaner plan
Williams has the physical advantages of a 6-foot-6 power pitcher, along with 7.1 feet of release extension, a mark in the 93rd percentile. His stuff begins with high-90s velocity, but the variety in his mix has made the heat even more difficult to handle.
- His most-used pitch, an 87.5 mph sweeper, produced 100 regular-season strikeouts and another seven in the postseason. It has played even harder in October, with some strikeout pitches exceeding 90 mph.
- His four-seam fastball averaged 97.6 mph during the season and accounted for 68 strikeouts. In the playoffs, it has averaged 99.1 mph.
- Williams also uses a sinker and a low-80s knuckle curveball. The curve became a major weapon against Chicago, generating eight strikeouts in the ALDS, his largest total on any one offering.
During a five-start stretch spanning July and August, Williams struck out 55 while walking only three. His approach in that run centered largely on the four-seamer, sweeper and curveball, trimming a more varied pitch selection into a sharper three-pitch attack.
The improved control has mattered as much as the raw stuff. Williams reduced his walk rate from 11.8 percent in 2025 to 8.2 percent this season.
Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said Williams has grown into a clearer understanding of his own game. “He knows the kind of pitcher he is now and trusts it,” Vogt said after Williams’ latest strong outing. “You can see his confidence continuing to build.”
Williams keeps the answer simple
For all the velocity, movement and postseason attention, Williams described the foundation of his breakthrough in plain terms: more strikes.
“I threw a lot more strikes,” Williams said. “I didn’t walk 83 guys like I did last year.”
His way of attacking the zone has also become more direct. Rather than aiming too narrowly at either edge, Williams said he begins with the catcher positioned over the middle and lets his arsenal work.
“Usually I set the catcher up in the middle and let it go,” Williams said. “I’m hoping it lands around where I want it. It gives me more room for error. Instead of working with one side of the plate, I can work with all 17 inches.”
That philosophy has carried Williams from a breakout regular season through a dominant Division Series. On Thursday, it will meet a Rays club that has made avoiding strikeouts part of its identity—and a Cleveland crowd ready to see whether its ace can keep the run going.
