Right-hander Devin Williams is in the process of making his return to the New York Mets. The team placed the former All-Star on the Injured List with a right shoulder strain on August 7. Since then, he has made significant progress towards rejoining the pitching staff as their closer.
Ahead of Monday’s series opener against the Baltimore Orioles at Citi Field, Williams faced hitters in a live bullpen session. He is expected to face hitters in another live session on Thursday. If he is able to make it through that without an issue he will be in line to return to the Mets without going on a rehabilitation assignment.
“We’re not playing on a [rehabilitation assignment]. I’m going to face hitters Thursday as it stands and reassess where we’re at now,” Willliams said.
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Before being sidelined, Devin Williams showed signs of remaining productive while dealing with an injury.The veteran righty went six games without giving up a hit in May. He followed that up by going three games without giving up a hit in late June to early July. However, he struggled towards the end of July, surrendering 17 hits, seven earned runs and a home run.
After his last two appearances in August didn’t go as planned, the Mets placed Devin Williams on the Injured List. The plan was for him to recover from this shoulder strain that had been causing some discomfort for some time. Still, the recovery process has taken more than a month, which is expected for a mild to moderate shoulder injury of that magnitude.
With Williams sidelined, the Mets utilized right-hander Kodai Senga as their closer. The former All-Star starter surfaced as a viable replacement with seven saves and 15 strikeouts in August and the start of September. His fastball is starting to reach 100 mph once again alongside his signature ghost forkball. Overall, he is performing much better than what he was capable of at the start of the regular season when he posted an 0–7 record with a 9.09 ERA in nine appearances. For those reasons, he received praise from his teammate Devin Williams.
“He’s 6-for-6, punching tickets, throwing 100 with a nasty forkball. I’d love to have him in the back end [of the pitching staff.] I can’t really speak to what he wants, but if he was in the bullpen, he’d be a great high-leverage arm to have,” Williams added.
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