Yankees takeaways: Devin Williams not to blame for loss, Ben Rice's transformation

New York Times

07-04-2025

PITTSBURGH — Devin Williams didn't have to look back, but he did. The New York Yankees closer turned for a moment to watch Pittsburgh Pirates slugger Tommy Pham's fly ball short-hop the left field wall. No Yankees outfielders were in sight because it didn't matter.
With just one out, automatic runner Jack Suwinski was going to score easily, tagging from third base, and he did, handing the Yankees a 5-4 loss in 11 innings at PNC Park on a chilly, rainy Sunday afternoon.
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'We're expected to do the job,' Williams said, 'and I didn't do it today.'
Williams threw a changeup just below the strike zone for the ninth pitch of the at-bat to the powerful Pham, and he crushed it, dropping the Yankees to 6-3 with a one-game lead atop the American League East.
Manager Aaron Boone said he thought Pham was 'kind of selling out' expecting the changeup — Williams' trademark pitch.
'Pretty good at-bat there against a really tough customer and I don't think Devin made a big mistake with it,' Boone said.
While Williams earned his first loss with the Yankees, the defeat wasn't on him. Several other factors contributed more:
The biggest culprits?
Will Warren: The rookie right-hander retired the first eight batters he faced and then just fell apart. With two outs in the third inning, Warren walked Isiah Kiner-Falefa. Then he gave up a single to Ke'bryan Hayes and an RBI double to Bryan Reynolds, who immediately scored on Oneil Cruz's single to right to give Pittsburgh a 2-1 lead. He eventually gave up four runs, lasting just four innings, and put himself in the lead to be replaced in the rotation by Clarke Schmidt when Schmidt returns from the injured list in a couple of weeks.
Situational hitting: The Yankees left 10 men on base and went 3-for-12 with runners in scoring position. They put a runner on third base in each of the extra innings. To be fair, they also staged a three-run, two-out rally in the ninth inning to force extras.
Andrew Heaney: The ex-Yankees lefty just about shut them down. 'I thought he had a really good mix,' Boone said. 'He used kind of everything.' Heaney struck out 10 while giving up just a walk and five hits over seven innings.
Much has been said about how Ben Rice put on weight in the offseason, and so far this season has been 'killing the ball,' according to Boone.
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But why?
Rice said in the winter he felt like he had room to grow, particularly in his upper body. So he reached out to the Yankees' dietitian Drew Weisberg with a simple question: 'How much more do I have to eat?'
Rice said he upped his carb intake and had lots of meals cooked by his parents as he continued living at his childhood home in Massachusetts in the offseason. He added that he also upped the intensity of his workouts.
He said he's put on about 10 pounds total — seven of which is muscle — since last June.
'Some people have been putting it out there that it was like this two-month insane transformation,' Rice said. 'It was over the course of six, seven or eight months. That was our point of comparison. The baseline.'
So far, it's worked. Rice's average exit velocity of 97.5 mph has been within the top 2 percent of hitters. He's hitting .320 (8-for-25) with two homers.
This week, right fielder Aaron Judge debuted a necklace with a gavel pendant (get it?) with lots of diamonds.
Aaron Judge has hit 6 home runs in 7 games
And he's been wearing a gavel chain 😤 pic.twitter.com/xhbSjYWQ2r
— MLB (@MLB) April 5, 2025
Judge declined comment when asked about it. But second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. loves it.
'He always had the little gold, small little gold chain,' Chisholm said. 'I had to let him know, 'Hey, you're the best player in the world, my guy. You've got to do something. You've got to show something. You got it.''
Chisholm said conversations about Judge potentially wearing a chain started last season. He said it gives Judge 'some flavor, some style.'
'We had that conversation last year and all of a sudden he wants to pop out with his gavel,' Chisholm said, smiling. 'But I like it. I love it, actually. Show other kids that baseball is changing and he's along with it. The best player in the world is with it.'
(Photo of Devin Williams walking off the field after the Pirates defeated the Yankees in 11 innings: Justin Berl / Getty Images)