Mo 2.0? Devin Williams ready to close games for Yankees with a pitch no one else can throw
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Jorge Castillo, ESPN Staff Writer
For years, teammates have asked Devin Williams to teach them his changeup, a pitch so unusual and dominant it has its own nickname. Williams always helps. They just never get “The Airbender” right.
“I haven’t seen anyone replicate it,” Williams said.
Powered by The Airbender, Williams has established himself as one of the premier relievers in baseball since breaking into the majors in 2019. He has been so good that the Milwaukee Brewers, keeping with their frugal roster-building tactics, traded Williams to the New York Yankees last month for left-hander Nestor Cortes and prospect Caleb Durbin before he inevitably would become too expensive in free agency next winter.
So, for one season, at least, Williams will follow in the footsteps of another Yankees closer who perplexed hitters with one pitch: Mariano Rivera.
“Those are big shoes to fill,” Williams said of Rivera, whose signature cutter helped him become the first player voted unanimously to the Hall of Fame. “I feel he kind of ruined it for everybody else. I mean, after him, it’s hard to live up to those expectations. But at the end of the day, I can only be me.”
Being himself has been more than good enough for the 30-year-old Williams. The right-hander won the 2020 National League Rookie of the Year Award with a 0.33 ERA in 22 games as the Brewers’ primary setup man during the COVID-shortened campaign. He was an All-Star in 2022 and 2023, his first full season as a closer.
Last season, after missing the first four months with stress fractures in his back, he posted a 1.25 ERA with 14 saves in 15 opportunities across 22 appearances. His 40.8% strikeout rate since 2020 ranks second in the majors among relievers. His 1.70 ERA is also second. His .144 batting average against ranks first.
“Obviously, he’s one of the best in the league, if not the best,” Yankees pitching coach Matt Blake said.
For Williams, it all starts with The Airbender. Williams grips it like a changeup and its 84-mph average velocity plays off his fastball like a changeup. But it’s a changeup with an exceptionally high spin rate that breaks to his arm side — opposite from the typical changeup — making it resemble a screwball or a left-hander’s sweeping slider. It is without precedent.
“It’s not anything to do with the grip,” Williams said. “The grip is nothing special. That’s why I think it’s funny when people are like, ‘Oh, don’t give it away.’ This is the most basic changeup grip they teach you when you’re 8 years old.”
Williams said his changeup is so different for two reasons: His elite extension, which ranked in the 98th percentile in 2024, and a singular ability to pronate his wrist.
“It’s the way my wrist works, the way I’m able to manipulate the ball is something unique, uniquely me,” Williams said. “It allows me to throw my changeup the way I throw it. I’m a really good pronator, not supinator. That’s why my slider sucked. You need to get on the other side of the ball. I’m not good at that. I’m good at turning it over.”
Williams did, however, modify his changeup grip to unearth the weapon. Entering 2019, Williams was a struggling minor league starter with a solid changeup, two years removed from Tommy John surgery. He was one year from reaching free agency, from perhaps seeing his career come to an end and going to college to play soccer.
That spring, seeking more movement, he altered his changeup grip from a two-seam to a four-seam, circle change grip. He first threw it during a live batting practice session to Trent Grisham, then a Brewers prospect. Grisham, now with the Yankees, told Williams the spin difference was noticeable. Williams stuck with it.
A starter through spring training, Williams was sent to Double-A as a reliever to begin the season. The demotion sparked desperation, and Williams decided to throw harder than ever, reaching back to lift his fastball into the high 90s. He was in the majors by August. But it wasn’t until the COVID shutdown in 2020 — when he realized spinning the ball more and dropping the velocity from high-80s to mid-80s created more movement — that his changeup reached another level.
“I took that into the season and at summer camp I’m facing my own teammates,” Williams said. “And Jedd Gyorko, I threw him one, and he swung and missed and he was just like, What is that? I’ve never seen [anything] like that. That gave me confidence and we just ran with it. And I literally started throwing it all the time.”
Coincidentally, Williams said the closest changeup he’s seen to his belongs to Luke Weaver, whose emergence as a shutdown reliever in 2024 was crucial in the Yankees reaching the World Series. Williams happened to be in New York when the Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers played in the Fall Classic. He was on his annual autumn vacation after the Brewers were eliminated from the postseason. Past trips have taken him all over Europe: London, Paris, Dublin, Amsterdam, Munich, Dortmund, with a soccer game invariably on his itinerary.
This time, he was in New York. He explored the city for 10 days. Instead of soccer, he watched the World Series from a bar. He shopped. He ate good food. He absorbed the city’s energy.
“I’m a city guy,” Williams said. “I love to explore cities. I like to immerse myself in the culture. I want to be like a normal, everyday person. You guys like bacon, egg and cheese? All right, I’m getting a bacon, egg and cheese.”
Less than two months later, as part of a series of moves executed in their pivot from Juan Soto‘s decision to sign with the crosstown Mets, the Yankees added Williams. On Thursday, Williams settled for $8.6 million to avoid arbitration.
He’ll partner with Weaver to create one of the best bullpen back ends in baseball — in hopes of helping the Yankees win their first championship since Rivera was dominating hitters with his cutter.
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Max Olson
Major changes are coming to the transfer portal in college football after the NCAA FBS Oversight Committee voted Thursday to move to a January transfer window and eliminate the spring window.
The proposed lone transfer window would be a 10-day period that opens Jan. 2, 2026, one day after the College Football Playoff quarterfinals are completed. The Division I Administrative Committee must approve the legislative changes before it can take effect. The vote is expected to occur before Oct. 1.
The committee is also proposing making the entire month of December a recruiting dead period. Coaches would still be able to have contact with recruits but would not be permitted to do on- or off-campus recruiting visits or evaluations.
FBS coaches voted unanimously to support the January portal proposal during their American Football Coaches Association convention earlier this year, saying it will give players and coaches more time to focus on finishing their season while preserving the opportunity for players to transfer to their new school for the spring semester.
In recent years, the portal has opened for underclassmen transfers in early December immediately following conference championship games and bowl selections. In 2024-25, the winter transfer window was Dec. 9-28, and the spring portal period was April 16-25.
The collision of transfer transactions, coaching changes, high school signing day and CFP and bowl games in December has been a major source of frustration for coaching staffs. Last season, Penn State and SMU lost backup quarterbacks to the portal while they were still competing in the playoff, and Marshall opted out of the Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl after determining it did not have enough players to compete due to departures brought on by a coaching change.
This season, the CFP semifinals will be held Jan. 9-10 while the national title game is set for Jan. 20.
The elimination of the spring window, if approved, will generally be welcomed by coaches but could come under scrutiny and perhaps legal challenges for restricting the transfer movement of athletes.
The NCAA’s FBS and FCS oversight committees recommended eliminating the spring window last August, citing the importance of roster stability for football programs, but did not move forward with pursuing that change while schools reckoned with the implications of the House settlement, revenue sharing and new roster limits in college athletics.
Last year, the NCAA had to abandon its one-time transfer rule amid legal challenges and pass emergency legislation to permit unlimited transfers for athletes who are academically eligible and meeting progress-to-degree requirements.
The spring portal window has traditionally been the final opportunity for players to make moves ahead of their upcoming season. Some coaches have taken advantage of it to cut players from their roster and sign additional transfers. Others view the spring portal period as giving players and their representatives too much leverage to seek more money from deals with schools that were previously signed in December and January.
Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava became the latest high-profile example in April when he opted to enter the portal and transfer to UCLA after a falling out with Tennessee’s coaching staff over NIL contract discussions.
In 2024-25, the NCAA’s Division I Council voted to reduce the total number of days players in FBS and FCS can be entered into the portal from 45 to 30. Dropping to 10 would represent another significant reduction that results in a frenzied period with thousands of players becoming available at the same time. Players can commit and transfer to their next school at any time after their names have been entered into the portal.
If the recommendation is approved, graduate transfers would also have to wait until Jan. 2 to enter their names in the transfer portal. Players who have earned their degree and are moving on as graduate transfers have traditionally been permitted to transfer before underclassmen players during the portal era. Last year, they were allowed to begin entering their names in the portal on Oct. 1.
The NCAA has also previously made exceptions on transfer window dates for players at schools going through coaching changes and for those on teams whose postseason ends after the portal window closes.
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Alaina Getzenberg
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — Josh Allen has accomplished plenty of firsts in his career.
He’ll corral another one in November as the University of Wyoming is set to retire Allen’s No. 17. The Buffalo Bills quarterback will be the first Cowboy to have their jersey retired.
A ceremony to retire Allen’s jersey will take place Nov. 22 during halftime of Wyoming’s game against Nevada. Allen will be in attendance for the game and ceremony with the Bills having the weekend off as they play on “Thursday Night Football” that week at the Houston Texans.
“What’s up, Cowboys fans. Josh Allen here,” Allen said in a video announcing the retirement. “I’m excited to announce that I will be returning to University of Wyoming Nov. 22 against University of Nevada. Excited to be back in Laramie. Go Pokes.”
17 coming home. pic.twitter.com/rA7YZv6kan
— Wyoming Cowboy Football (@wyo_football) September 4, 2025
The reigning NFL MVP will make his return to the school for the first time since he was chosen by the Bills seventh in 2018, Wyoming’s highest draft pick.
After starting his collegiate career as a no-star recruit and playing at Reedley College, a juco program in central California, Allen transferred to Wyoming, playing there from 2015 to 2017. After suffering a broken collarbone his first year in Laramie, he led the school to back-to-back eight-win seasons, finishing his career with 5,066 passing yards, 767 rushing yards and 57 total touchdowns. The two-time team captain was also named MVP of the 2017 Famous Idaho Potato Bowl.
“It is very exciting and a wonderful day for the State of Wyoming,” University of Wyoming athletic director Tom Burman said in a statement. “It is going to be a big day in the history of Wyoming Football. Josh is the most high-profile ambassador the University of Wyoming has ever had.”
The Bills kick off the season Sunday night against the Baltimore Ravens (8:20 ET, NBC).
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Kalyn Kahler
North Carolina and first-year head coach Bill Belichick have banned the New England Patriots’ staff from accessing the Tar Heels’ program, sources told ESPN.
When reached by ESPN, North Carolina football general manager Michael Lombardi said, “Good luck” and then hung up the phone. UNC also declined comment.
Lombardi and Tar Heels pro liason Frantzy Jourdain informed the Patriots that they would be banned from UNC the day before one of their scouts was scheduled to visit in August, a source with direct knowledge told ESPN.
Two NFL scouts who work for other teams told ESPN that North Carolina, under Belichick’s leadership, offers limited access to all NFL personnel. Clubs are allowed to speak only with Jourdain, and UNC’s college relations website says that “scouts will have zero access to coaches or other personnel people,” according to the scouts.
The term “zero access” appears three times on UNC’s college relations website, a page accessible only to NFL personnel.
One scout said NFL personnel are only able to watch three periods of practice at UNC. Each college program varies in access to NFL personnel, but the scouts said that many programs allow scouts to watch full practices.
“Can’t think of another school with a statement of ‘zero access,'” one scout told ESPN.
3 & Out’s John Middlekauff first reported the news.
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