MLB

New York Yankees relief pitcher Devin Williams will no longer be closing games for the team, and he is not surprised by the decision.

“With the way things have gone recently, it’s not really a shock to me,” Williams said after the Yankees Sunday win over the Toronto Blue Jays, per The Athletic's Brendan Kuty. “Being the closer is a position you have to earn, and you have to keep earning it to continue to be in that role. Lately, I haven’t been doing that.”

The change came after Williams struggled to close Friday night’s 4-2 loss against the Blue Jays. Over 10 appearances this season, he is 0-2 with an 11.25 ERA and four saves.

Williams did not play in either of the Yankees' doubleheader games against the Blue Jays on Sunday, with New York winning the two games by the scores of 11-2 and 5-1.

Right-hander Luke Weaver is expected to take his place for the Yankees after the 31-year-old pitched a scoreless ninth inning during Sunday's second win.

“It’s disappointing,” Williams said in regard to losing the closer role, per Kuty. “You work for years to get to that point. To have that taken away from you, it’s not a fun feeling. Can’t say it’s undeserved.”

Yankees manager Aaron Boone said he spoke with Williams about the decision ahead of the doubleheader on Sunday.

“I thought we had a really good conversation yesterday about it. He’s ready to do whatever," Boone said, per Kuty. “For right now, I’m going to take him out of that role.”

Despite Boone's decision to remove the 30-year-old pitcher from the role, he said that Williams has “still got everything to be great.”

“This is a guy who’s in the prime of his career,” Boone said, per Kuty. “He’s just going through it, and it happens. As I tell you guys and I tell our players all the time, you make a career at this long enough and you’re going to face some challenging moments, you’re going to face some adversity along the way. The good news for Devin is that he’s got everything to get through this and come out better on the other side.”

The Yankees lead the American League East with a 17-11 record and head on the road to face the Baltimore Orioles on Monday.

New York Yankees second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. will not be forced to miss time for his NSFW social media post earlier this month.

Per Ronald Blum of the Associated Press, MLB dropped Chisholm's one-game suspension for his ejection against the Tampa Bay Rays on April 18 and subsequent violation of its social media policy following his appeal. His fine reportedly was maintained.

Chisholm was ejected by plate umpire John Bacon in the eighth inning of the Yankees' 6-3 win over the Rays when he argued a called third strike on a pitch from Rays reliever Mason Montgomery that appeared low. It was the first time he was ejected from a game with the Yankees and the fifth ejection of his career.

After being removed from the game, Chisholm tweeted, "Not even f--king close" before deleting the post.

Blum explained that MLB's social media policy prohibits "displaying or transmitting content that questions the impartiality of or otherwise denigrates a major league umpire." Also, players are banned from using electronic devices during games under league rules.

"I didn’t think before I had anything that I said was ejectable but after probably," Chisholm said after his ejection. "I’m a competitor, so when I go out there and I feel like I’m right and you’re saying something to me that I think doesn’t make sense, I’m going to get fired up and be upset."

Chisholm was allowed to continue playing while his appeal delayed any penalties from MLB. In 28 games, he's hitting just .178 with seven home runs and 17 RBI.

The Yankees improved to 17-11 after sweeping Sunday's doubleheader against the Toronto Blue Jays and will look to keep the momentum going when they visit the Baltimore Orioles (10-17) for Monday's series opener.

The Los Angeles Dodgers haven't been frugal when it comes to spending money to get talent, but the team took a unique approach to help land Rōki Sasaki this offseason.

Per the Orange County Register's Bill Blunkett, team president and CEO Stan Kasten added Japanese-style toilets to the Dodgers' clubhouse amid a $100 million renovation because Sasaki said having such features could sway his decision of where to sign.

“During our first meeting with Roki, we were telling him about the project we had ongoing to upgrade our clubhouse and facilities,” Kasten said. “I was telling him about all the amenities we were adding. ‘We’re going to have this and this and this.’ And he asked, ‘Are you going to have Japanese-style toilets?’”

Sasaki said after the fact that he was partially joking with Kasten, but having Japanese-style toilets was a preference. He also said Los Angeles' willingness to make the change just to make players more comfortable “was definitely a factor."

“It sounds like a joke. But for me, it’s pretty important,” Sasaki said through an interpreter.

When Sasaki said he wanted Japanese-style toilets, Kasten didn't hesitate to make the change.

“Done. You got it,” Kasten said he told Sasaki at the meeting. “It was a good idea that we got from a player.”

How much of a factor the Japanese-style toilets influenced Sasaki is unclear, but it clearly made some kind of an impact as he ended up signing with the Dodgers in January.

The New York Mets have a minor-league pitching prospect whose power is well beyond his years.

Mets Class A pitcher Raimon Gomez showed off his strength with a pitch that clocked in at 104.5 mph in Saturday's game for St. Lucie. Per the Associated Press, Statcast ranks it as the fastest pitch thrown during the 2025 season.

The fastest pitch clocked in the majors was 103.7 mph by Oakland Athletics reliever Mason Miller.

Gomez didn't surrender a single hit over three innings of work to help lead St. Lucie to a 4-2 win over Daytona.

A 23-year-old prospect from Venezuela, Gomez spent all of 2024 on the injured list. While he's not ranked as one of the Mets' top 30 prospects by MLB.com, his development appears to be moving in a positive direction with 7.2 scoreless innings to start the 2025 campaign.

The New York Yankees plan to remove Devin Williams from his role as the team's closer and instead turn to Luke Weaver, manager Aaron Boone said on Sunday, per ESPN's Jorge Castillo.

Boone said Williams will not be the team's closer "for right now," leaving the door open for his return to the role eventually.

"He's still got everything to be great, right? This is a guy that is in the prime of his career and he's just going through it a little bit," Boone said of Williams. "I tell our players all the time, you make a career that's long enough and you're going to face some challenging moments. You're going to face some adversity along the way. And good news for Devin is he's got everything to get through this and come out better on the other side. And that's my expectation.

"But, for right now, I think it's best for everyone that we pull him out of that role and try and start building some good rhythm and confidence and momentum and fully expect him to be a central figure for us moving forward."

Williams, whom the Yankees acquired from the Milwaukee Brewers in December, has an 11.25 ERA and four saves across eight innings in 10 appearances. The former Rookie of the Year is on pace for career-worst numbers in strikeout rate (18.2%), whiff rate (24.1%) and walk rate (15.9%).

Williams gave up three earned runs in a loss to the Tampa Bay Rays last week before giving up three runs in Friday's loss to the Toronto Blue Jays.

According to Castillo, Boone said he won't have a specific role for Williams as he tries to overcome his early struggles.

Amid Williams' struggles, Weaver has thrived to start the year. He's recorded 13 strikeouts with a 0.00 ERA and a 0.62 WHIP in 13 innings across 11 games. He also has a pair of saves. In his second season with New York a year ago, Weaver had career bests in ERA (2.89) and WHIP (0.93), posting a 7-3 record and four saves in 62 appearances.

While Weaver will move primarily into a closer role, Boone said he's still willing to look to the pitcher in high-leverage moments early in games, according to Castillo.

Even with Williams' struggles to start the season, the Yankees sit atop the AL East at 15-11 and have posted the ninth-best bullpen ERA in the majors.