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Gavin Williams is a fantasy baseball trade target for Week 9 (2025). Is Gavin Williams a fantasy baseball buy or sell? Read the trade analysis and advice.
BALLER MOVE: Sell Gavin Williams
ANALYSIS: Fantasy managers started to notice Cleveland Guardians pitcher Gavin Williams during the spring. He allowed just four runs across 17 1/3 innings pitched in spring training to go with 26 strikeouts and just four walks. Williams, though, was the opposite of that pitcher to begin the regular season.
He had a 5.14 ERA, 14 walks, and 28 strikeouts in his first six starts in 2025. Some of those outings included allowing five earned runs with four walks across six 1/3 innings against the Baltimore Orioles on April 16 and giving up four runs on seven hits with two walks across just two innings against the Minnesota Twins on April 28.
Featured Promo: Save 50% the regular price with discount code SUMMER, for a limited time. Exclusive access to our Team Sync platform, DFS cheat sheets, Lineup Optimizers, betting/prop picks, and exclusive content from Nick Mariano and Eric Cross! GAIN ACCESS NOWHowever, Williams has been a much more efficient pitcher in recent outings. He has a 2.25 ERA and 29 strikeouts over his first four starts in May and just tossed six innings of one-run ball with six strikeouts against the Twins on Wednesday. The re-emergence of his cutter has been a large reason why the Guardians pitcher has found some success on the mound as of late.
Williams took a slight step back in his most recent outing against a potent Dodger lineup. In this outing, he allowed four runs and four hits across 4 2/3 innings of work.
🚨Gavin Williams is throwing Cutters as his #2 pitch. 🚨
THIS IS NOT A DRILL pic.twitter.com/OZ9zxuFz3B
— Nick Pollack (@PitcherList) May 21, 2025
While some fantasy managers might believe that Williams' recent numbers are here to stay, it's best to trade away the right-hander before his next start. He's allowing a ton of hard contact this season while walking batters at an extremely high rate. The 25-year-old has walked multiple batters in eight of his 10 starts and currently carries a 12.4% walk rate.
As a result, he likely won't be able to maintain a low ERA for most of the season.
- Written by Joey Pollizze
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