Gavin Williams wasn't Cleveland's ace at the start of 2026. Here's how he pitched his way to the top of the rotation.

GuardiansCleveland Guardians pitcher Gavin Williams throws in the first inning against the Athletics.John Kuntz, cleveland.comBy Cleveland Baseball Talk Podcast, cleveland.comCLEVELAND, Ohio — The transformation of Gavin Williams from a hard-throwing, occasionally wild pitcher into the Guardians’ undisputed postseason ace is one of the more compelling stories of the 2026 baseball season — and it didn’t happen by accident.“This guy has pitched himself into being your lead dog starter, your number one guy in a playoff series,” cleveland.com Guardians beat reporter Paul Hoynes said on the Cleveland Baseball Talk Podcast. “And it wasn’t like that at the start of this season. Tanner Bibee was in that spot. He was the opening day starter.”That’s the arc of Williams’ 2026 campaign in a nutshell. He entered the season as a talented second option in Cleveland’s rotation. He’s leaving it as the clear Game 1 starter for whatever October run the Guardians have ahead of them.The numbers back it up. Williams his penultimate start of the season with 244 strikeouts — good enough to lead the major leagues, at least temporarily — along with his 14th win and a 1.44 ERA across four September starts. On Sunday against the Athletics, he threw seven innings of shutout baseball allowing three hits and one-walk ball on just 89 pitches. He probably could have gone back out for an eighth, but why push it now?The more nuanced story is how he got here. Williams’ power and stuff has never been the question. The difference in 2026 has been command. As Williams himself put it after Sunday’s game: “When I throw over the plate, I have a good chance of doing a lot of good things. And that was my biggest goal this year.”The results are striking when you break them down. According to a stat shared on Monday’s podcast from Codify Baseball, Williams has posted a 1.94 ERA in his 20 best starts and an 8.39 ERA in his 10 worst. That gap is enormous — but the late-season trend line has been pointing decisively toward the good version showing up.Beat reporter Joe Noga relayed what center fielder Steven Kwan observed from his vantage point in the outfield. “Once Gavin Williams gets to strike one on you, you can see the panic in a hitter’s face. Kwan’s got a really good view from center field. He said you can see the panic because they have to account for and cover so many different pitch shapes and types in an at-bat.”A big part of that is the sweeper. On Sunday, Williams threw 38 of them. Since the beginning of August, that pitch has generated 28 strikeouts. When he’s mixing it effectively with his curveball and fastball — when he’s pounding the strike zone — hitters are simply overwhelmed.Hoynes also pointed to Williams’ durability as something easy to overlook. MORE BY CLEVELAND BASEBALL TALK PODCAST“He made 31 starts last year. He’s right at 31 starts this year,” Hoynes noted, adding that Williams has become “a solid starter that you can depend on every five days.” For a pitcher who was in and out of the rotation earlier in his career dealing with injuries and setbacks, that kind of reliability matters.Williams summed up his entire 2026 season with characteristic understatement, describing it simply as “decent.” That kind of self-assessment, paired with what he’s actually produced, tells you a lot about where his head is as the Guardians head toward October.This article was produced with assistance from AI tools and reviewed by Cleveland.com staff.