Taylor Williams, the Seattle Mariners unlikely closer
Seattle Mariners pitcher Taylor Williams may be from close to home, but he came out of nowhere to be the team’s closer in 2020.
How about the newest, latest, greatest Seattle Mariners’ closer? Taylor Williams! Wait, who?
Williams is, as of right now, the M’s closer. He was an absolute longshot to win the job a few months ago. Before joining Seattle, Williams owned a 5.20 ERA over 78 appearances.
Until July 26, he had never closed an MLB game and had only a pair of save opportunities. So naturally, the local kid was going to the M’s closer over the likes of Matt Magill, Yoshihisa Hirano, Austin Adams, and Carl Edwards Jr.
The early years
Williams is a native Washingtonian who grew up as a Seattle Mariners fan. As a senior, he helped take Camas (Wa.) High School to the state finals. After graduation, Williams played college ball at Washington State, Mount Hood Community College, and Kent State. His outstanding NCAA performance led to a fourth-round selection by the Milwaukee Brewers in 2013.
A top prospect in the Milwaukee organization, he drew high praise. Ryan Braun went so far as to compare Taylor’s fastball to that of former All-Star and lights out closer Craig Kimbrel. Unfortunately, that same year he needed to have Tommy John Surgery, which kept him out for all of 2015 and 2016. Even though he was still recovering, the Brewers liked Taylor enough to protect him against the Rule 5 draft.
His minor league numbers aren’t terrible at all. He appeared in 109 games where he had a 15-9 record, along with six holds and 11 saves. That includes 295 K’s in 277.1 innings, while only walking 88. All in all, his minor league numbers indicate someone who would be a quality big league pitcher.
Call up to the Majors
Four years after being drafted, he got the call to make his big-league debut on September 6, 2017, for the Brew Crew against Cincinnati. He was quite successful in his maiden outing, retiring the two batters he faced. Williams made five appearances for the Brewers and posted a 1.93 ERA. The next two seasons weren’t as smooth as he bounced between the Majors and Triple-A. His combined ERA for 2018-2019 was 5.45 in 67.2 innings.
To make room on their roster this winter for younger players, Milwaukee waived him in February. The Seattle Mariners swooped in and claimed Williams to add his lively arm to their bullpen mix. Why not take a chance on a local kid?
Scouting report
A quick overview of the new Seattle Mariners closer says that his two best pitches are a fastball and slider. The fastball sits in the mid-’90s, but can he get the heater up as high as 99 mph with late movement. His slider has some bite to it that breaks away from right-handed hitters, typically in a 1-to-7 break pattern. Many scouts always believed that the right-handed pitcher is better suited to a relief role, due to being a bit undersized, 5’11” 195lbs, with “high effort mechanics.”
I’m intrigued by what Taylor brings to the Seattle Mariners. Williams might not be the first guy M’s fans thought would be this year’s closer, but he has the stuff to get the job done. You could say that Williams is Taylor-made for this closer role. (Ok, I’ll show myself out now.)