Devin Williams Implodes, the Athletics Won’t Go Away, & Stars Drop Like Flies | 81

Welcome to Episode 81 of Tablesetters! Devin and Steve are back with a fast-moving, stat-packed dive into a wild week across Major League Baseball.

We start in the Bronx, where the Yankees handed the game over to Devin Williams with a 3-0 lead in the 8th… and he handed it right back. Two outs, then chaos—after a hit and two walks, Luke Weaver gave up back-to-back two-run hits to cough up the lead entirely. Williams blamed the rain, but his ERA now sits above 10, and Yankee fans are losing patience.

The Padres continue their surge despite losing both Fernando Tatis Jr. and manager Mike Shildt to ejections—they’ve now rattled off six straight wins. Over in Queens, the Mets are falling apart: AJ Minter (1.64 ERA) is out for the season with a lat tear, Danny Young needs Tommy John, and Jesse Winker’s oblique strain will sideline him 6–8 weeks. Brett Baty’s back, and Genesis Cabrera joins the pen—but the depth is running thin.

And how about the Athletics? With a walk-off win over Seattle, they’ve gone 7-3 in their last 10 and sit just one game out of first place at 20-16. The Royals are also heating up, led by Cole Ragans, who returned from a minor groin issue and struck out 11 in his comeback start. KC has won three straight and is right in the AL Central mix.

We also dive into a brutal round of IL stints across the league—Trout, Yordan, Imanaga, Jazz, Glasnow, Buehler, Casas, and Teoscar all out. We debate which loss is the toughest to absorb.

Elsewhere:

• Bret Boone is now the hitting coach in Texas
• Jake Burger sent to Triple-A
• Leody Taveras claimed by the Mariners
• Evan Carter gets the call back
• Lance McCullers makes his first start since the 2022 World Series

Plus, the Sub-2 ERA Crew continues to deal: Yamamoto (0.90), Max Fried (1.01), Mahle (1.19), Senga (1.38), Brown (1.67), Luzardo (1.94), and Kris Bubic (1.98) are all under 2.00.

And in Take a Pitch/Swing Away, we take our swings at three big topics:

• Is Pete Crow-Armstrong’s hot start sustainable?
• Could Aaron Judge actually chase a .400 Triple Crown?
• Is Sandy Alcantara’s trade value completely shot with an 8.42 ERA?

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