3 Young Guardians That Should Receive Contract Extensions This Offseason
By Tyler Maher
3. Gavin Williams
You can never have too many young starters in your rotation, so let's add Gavin Williams to the list as well.
Like Bibee, Williams is a 24-year-old righty coming off a promising rookie season. Like Naylor, he was a first-round draft pick, albeit from Bibee's class (2021).
Williams didn't pitch as often as Bibee this year and is still a bit more raw, but the potential is definitely there. Over 16 starts, he went 3-5 with a 3.29 ERA, a 1.26 WHIP and 81 strikeouts in 82 innings. He also showed a lot of progress towards the end of the season with a 2.50 ERA over his last four starts, potentially setting him up for a big 2024.
He needs to cut down on his walk rate a bit (4.1 BB/9), but if he can do that the sky's the limit. His stuff is pretty unhittable, as evidenced by his .219/.310/.368 opponent batting line.
Even if William doesn't bring the walks down, he'll still be a quality mid-rotation arm. The only question is whether he can take that next step.
The Guardians might want to wait to see if he can do it before giving him a ton of money, but I liked what I saw from him this year and would be willing to do it.
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