Gavin Williams

Organization Prospect Rankings

• 
  Ranked Cleveland Guardians #1 prospect in 2023
  BA Grade/Risk: 65/High
  
  Track Record: Williams has long had a big arm and big potential, but it took him a full four years of college to truly realize it. After primarily pitching out of the East Carolina bullpen for his first three seasons on campus, he took over a spot in the rotation in 2021 and produced an All-America season, going 10-1, 1.88 with 130 strikeouts in 81.1 innings. That turned him into the 24th overall pick, marking the first time the Guardians used a first-round pick on a college pitcher since taking Drew Pomeranz in 2010. Williams reached Double-A a year and a day after his last college start and ultimately was one of the best pitchers in the Eastern League. He made the BA Minor League All-Star Team after leading the minor leagues with a .173 opponent average and ranked third with a 1.96 ERA.
  
  Scouting Report: Williams stands out for his size and arm strength. His fastball sits around 95 mph, has touched 101 and can get swings and misses, especially up in the zone. He throws both a curveball and slider, with his 11-to-5 curveball being the better of the two, though the short slider is a solid pitch in its own right. He also has good feel for a firm changeup, though it's the least advanced of his offerings. Williams had control issues early in his college career and those can still crop up at times, but he should pitch with average command.
  
  The Future: The Guardians couldn't have asked for anything more out of Williams in his professional debut. He showed all the characteristics of an above-average starter, and he has a tantalizing combination of upside and proximity to the big leagues. He'll start 2023 at Triple-A Columbus and could pitch his way to Cleveland by the summer.
  
  Scouting Grades: Fastball: 70. Curveball: 60. Slider: 55. Changeup: 50. Control: 50
• 
  Ranked Cleveland Guardians #8 prospect in 2022
  Track Record: Williams long had a big arm and lots of potential, but it took him a full four years at East Carolina to truly realize it. After primarily pitching out of the bullpen for his first three seasons, he took over a spot in the rotation in 2021 and produced an All-America season, going 10-1, 1.88 with 130 strikeouts in 81.1 innings. That turned him into a first-round pick, where Cleveland selected him 23rd overall and signed him for $2.25 million.
  
  Scouting Report: Williams stands out for his size and arm strength. His fastball sits 95 mph, touches 101 and get swings and misses, especially up in the strike zone. He throws both a curveball and slider, with the 11-to-5 curveball being the better of the two pitches as a plus offering, although his short slider is an above-average pitch in its own right. He also has a firm changeup that is an average pitch at its best. Williams had control issues early in his college career but took a big step forward in 2021 and should pitch with average control. For a big, powerful pitcher, he has solid body control and has done a better job recently of repeating his delivery.
  
  The Future: Williams did not pitch after signing and will likely make his professional debut at High-A in 2022. His loud stuff gives him mid-rotation upside as a starter.

Draft Prospects

• Ranked #30 prospect in 2021 draft
  Going back to his prep days at Cape Fear High in Fayetteville, N.C., Williams has had plenty of velocity. He was in the mid 90s with a projectable frame at the time and scouts didn’t think it would be too long before he was touching 100 mph. They weren’t wrong, and now Williams sits with one of the hardest fastballs in the draft class. He sits 94-96 with the pitch and has been up to 100-101 mph. Despite that velocity, Williams struggled during his first three seasons—with injuries, consistency and control. As a draft-eligible member of the 2020 class, Williams ranked No. 81 in the class on the upside of his pure stuff despite throwing just three innings after being limited with a finger injury. This spring, he’s put everything together for the first time and excelled in a mostly starting role, pitching to a 1.46 ERA through his first 10 starts and 68 innings, with 108 strikeouts (14.3 K/9) and 18 walks (2.4 BB/9)—good for the lowest walk rate of his career. He improved his secondaries over the offseason and is more consistent with his breaking balls. An upper-70s curveball with 11-5 shape has been his best swing-and-miss pitch this spring, and he also throws a mid-80s slider with short, two-plane bite that is solid when he gets on top of it and keeps it down. Williams also throws a firm, upper-80s changeup that has some dive and gets whiffs when it’s located down, but he misses to his arm side with the pitch. Williams could get drafted among the top-two rounds with his breakout season and loud pitch-mix.
• Ranked #81 prospect in 2020 draft
  Williams had some of the easiest velocity in the high school class back in 2017, when he was touching the mid-90s with a projectable frame. At the time, scouts expected he would throw 100 mph one day. They were right, as Williams has been up into the 100-101 mph range at his best when healthy with East Carolina. There’s a bit of injury history on Williams’ resume. He missed time during his freshman season and only threw three innings this spring after a finger injury delayed his start to the season. While most of his time at ECU has been out of the bullpen, scouts think he might have a chance to start at the next level thanks to a large, 6-foot-6, 240-pound frame, some of the easiest upper-90s fastball velocity you’ll see, natural feel to spin a breaking ball and flashes of an above-average changeup. He’ll need to develop his secondaries a bit more, as he has shown a tendency to baby his curveball instead of ripping it off with intent, but the natural ability to spin it is there. Scouts have also seen his control and command waver when out of the stretch with runners on base, so he’ll need to take steps forward improving those little aspects of the game as well. With a potential 80-grade fastball and two secondaries with above-average potential, the stuff is all there. With a solid junior season, teams thought he could go as high as the supplemental first round. Now, after just 68 career innings, Williams could be a late day one or early day two pick.
• Ranked #120 prospect in 2017 draft
  Williams is a big, highly projectable righthander committed to East Carolina with some of the easiest velocity in the class. At 6-foot-6 and 200 pounds Williams will regularly throw in the low 90s and has hit 95 multiple times without showing much effort in his delivery. Some scouts expect him to reach triple digits some day, projecting his fastball to be an 80-grade pitch. The development of his curveball will dictate his ceiling, as the pitch currently lacks any real bite. This spring he allowed just two earned runs, while striking out 65 batters in 39.2 innings with a 0.53 WHIP.

Top 100 Rankings

• Ranked Baseball America's #19 prospect in 2023

• February, 2023 Scouting Report
  BA Grade/Risk: 65/High
  
  Track Record: Williams has long had a big arm and big potential, but it took him a full four years of college to truly realize it. After primarily pitching out of the East Carolina bullpen for his first three seasons on campus, he took over a spot in the rotation in 2021 and produced an All-America season, going 10-1, 1.88 with 130 strikeouts in 81.1 innings. That turned him into the 24th overall pick, marking the first time the Guardians used a first-round pick on a college pitcher since taking Drew Pomeranz in 2010. Williams reached Double-A a year and a day after his last college start and ultimately was one of the best pitchers in the Eastern League. He made the BA Minor League All-Star Team after leading the minor leagues with a .173 opponent average and ranked third with a 1.96 ERA.
  
  Scouting Report: Williams stands out for his size and arm strength. His fastball sits around 95 mph, has touched 101 and can get swings and misses, especially up in the zone. He throws both a curveball and slider, with his 11-to-5 curveball being the better of the two, though the short slider is a solid pitch in its own right. He also has good feel for a firm changeup, though it's the least advanced of his offerings. Williams had control issues early in his college career and those can still crop up at times, but he should pitch with average command.
  
  The Future: The Guardians couldn't have asked for anything more out of Williams in his professional debut. He showed all the characteristics of an above-average starter, and he has a tantalizing combination of upside and proximity to the big leagues. He'll start 2023 at Triple-A Columbus and could pitch his way to Cleveland by the summer.
  
  Scouting Grades: Fastball: 70. Curveball: 60. Slider: 55. Changeup: 50. Control: 50
• December, 2022 Scouting Report
  BA Grade/Risk: 65/High
  
  Track Record: Williams has long had a big arm and big potential, but it took him a full four years of college to truly realize it. After primarily pitching out of the East Carolina bullpen for his first three seasons on campus, he took over a spot in the rotation in 2021 and produced an All-America season, going 10-1, 1.88 with 130 strikeouts in 81.1 innings. That turned him into the 24th overall pick, marking the first time the Guardians used a first-round pick on a college pitcher since taking Drew Pomeranz in 2010. Williams reached Double-A a year and a day after his last college start and ultimately was one of the best pitchers in the Eastern League. He made the BA Minor League All-Star Team after leading the minor leagues with a .173 opponent average and ranked third with a 1.96 ERA.
  
  Scouting Report: Williams stands out for his size and arm strength. His fastball sits around 95 mph, has touched 101 and can get swings and misses, especially up in the zone. He throws both a curveball and slider, with his 11-to-5 curveball being the better of the two, though the short slider is a solid pitch in its own right. He also has good feel for a firm changeup, though it's the least advanced of his offerings. Williams had control issues early in his college career and those can still crop up at times, but he should pitch with average command.
  
  The Future: The Guardians couldn't have asked for anything more out of Williams in his professional debut. He showed all the characteristics of an above-average starter, and he has a tantalizing combination of upside and proximity to the big leagues. He'll start 2023 at Triple-A Columbus and could pitch his way to Cleveland by the summer.
  
  Scouting Grades: Fastball: 70. Curveball: 60. Slider: 55. Changeup: 50. Control: 50
• April, 2022 Scouting Report
  BA Grade: 55/Very High
  
  Track Record: Williams long had a big arm and lots of potential, but it took him a full four years at East Carolina to truly realize it. After primarily pitching out of the bullpen for his first three seasons, he took over a spot in the rotation in 2021 and produced an All-America season, going 10-1, 1.88 with 130 strikeouts in 81.1 innings. That turned him into a first-round pick, where the Indians selected him 23rd overall and signed him for $2.25 million.
  
  Scouting Report: Williams stands out for his size and arm strength. His fastball sits 95 mph, touches 101 and get swings and misses, especially up in the strike zone. He throws both a curveball and slider, with the 11-to-5 curveball being the better of the two pitches as a plus offering, although his short slider is an above-average pitch in its own right. He also has a firm changeup that is an average pitch at its best. Williams had control issues early in his college career but took a big step forward in 2021 and should pitch with average control. For a big, powerful pitcher, he has solid body control and has done a better job recently of repeating his delivery.
  
  The Future: Williams did not pitch after signing and will likely make his professional debut at High-A in 2022. His loud stuff gives him mid-rotation upside as a starter.
  
  Scouting Grades: Fastball: 70. Curveball: 60. Slider: 55. Changeup: 50. Control: 50.
• December, 2021 Scouting Report
  Track Record: Williams long had a big arm and lots of potential, but it took him a full four years at East Carolina to truly realize it. After primarily pitching out of the bullpen for his first three seasons, he took over a spot in the rotation in 2021 and produced an All-America season, going 10-1, 1.88 with 130 strikeouts in 81.1 innings. That turned him into a first-round pick, where Cleveland selected him 23rd overall and signed him for $2.25 million.
  
  Scouting Report: Williams stands out for his size and arm strength. His fastball sits 95 mph, touches 101 and get swings and misses, especially up in the strike zone. He throws both a curveball and slider, with the 11-to-5 curveball being the better of the two pitches as a plus offering, although his short slider is an above-average pitch in its own right. He also has a firm changeup that is an average pitch at its best. Williams had control issues early in his college career but took a big step forward in 2021 and should pitch with average control. For a big, powerful pitcher, he has solid body control and has done a better job recently of repeating his delivery.
  
  The Future: Williams did not pitch after signing and will likely make his professional debut at High-A in 2022. His loud stuff gives him mid-rotation upside as a starter.
• July, 2021 Scouting Report
  Going back to his prep days at Cape Fear High in Fayetteville, N.C., Williams has had plenty of velocity. He was in the mid 90s with a projectable frame at the time and scouts didn't think it would be too long before he was touching 100 mph. They weren't wrong, and now Williams sits with one of the hardest fastballs in the draft class. He sits 94-96 with the pitch and has been up to 100-101 mph. Despite that velocity, Williams struggled during his first three seasons—with injuries, consistency and control. As a draft-eligible member of the 2020 class, Williams ranked No. 81 in the class on the upside of his pure stuff despite throwing just three innings after being limited with a finger injury. This spring, he's put everything together for the first time and excelled in a mostly starting role, pitching to a 1.46 ERA through his first 10 starts and 68 innings, with 108 strikeouts (14.3 K/9) and 18 walks (2.4 BB/9)—good for the lowest walk rate of his career. He improved his secondaries over the offseason and is more consistent with his breaking balls. An upper-70s curveball with 11-5 shape has been his best swing-and-miss pitch this spring, and he also throws a mid-80s slider with short, two-plane bite that is solid when he gets on top of it and keeps it down. Williams also throws a firm, upper-80s changeup that has some dive and gets whiffs when it's located down, but he misses to his arm side with the pitch.