Usually when we put together the Pitcher of the Month articles, there is at least a discussion about who should be the top pitcher. For the month of July, no one came close to Trevor Williams.
This last month was quite a turn around for Williams. He put up an 0.98 ERA, a .175 BAA and an 0.87 WHIP over six starts and 36.2 innings. He also made six starts in the month of June, where he had a 5.06 ERA, a .341 BAA and a 1.78 WHIP in 32 innings. Those numbers were put up right after he returned from shoulder soreness, which shut him down during his first start of the season.
While those June numbers look awful, he didn’t look as bad as they would suggest. There were a few games where he had a lot of soft contact that ended up in hits. Part of that was due to the extreme infield shifts that Indianapolis used, which hurt every pitcher at times, but they just seemed to affect Williams more often. So there was potential for him to turn things around quickly, but I don’t think anyone expected he would go on the run that he did.
Williams started the month with seven shutout innings, facing the minimum. He allowed one single, but that runner was thrown out trying to stretch it into a double. He followed that up with one run on five hits over seven innings. The next start was six shutout frames for Williams, followed by his longest outing of the season, eight shutout innings on three hits and no walks. That four game stretch saw him throw 28 innings, with 12 hits, two walks and one run. After one rough start, he finished with six shutout innings on July 31st.
Williams also showed a slight uptick in velocity, hitting 94-95 more often during a couple of those games. He can hit 97 MPH in shorter outings and gets a lot of ground balls. In four seasons in the minors, he has a 1.56 GO/AO ratio. Williams does a good job of mixing his pitches, changing up speeds and throwing strikes. That makes him an intriguing arm out of the bullpen for some people, but the run he went on last month suggests that the Pirates might want to give him every chance to remain in the rotation for now.
PITCHERS OF THE MONTH BY LEVEL
Indianapolis – Trevor Williams, RHP (0.98 ERA, 22:10 K/BB, 36.2 IP)
Altoona – Clay Holmes, RHP (3.55 ERA, 27:16 K/BB, 33.0 IP)
Bradenton – Tate Scioneaux, RHP (2.65 ERA, 14:5 K/BB, 17.0 IP)
West Virginia – Gage Hinsz, RHP (2.36 ERA, 20:4 K/BB, 34.1 IP)
Morgantown – Danny Beddes, RHP (2.39 ERA, 20:7 K/BB, 26.1 IP)
Bristol – Ike Schlabach, LHP (3.16 ERA, 18:7 K/BB, 25.2 IP)
GCL – Travis MacGregor, RHP (1.10 ERA, 11:6 K/BB, 16.1 IP)
