Pittsburgh Pirates hope they found an ace in Trevor Williams

The Pittsburgh Pirates thought they had brought in an ace at the trade deadline with their acquisition of Chris Archer. Instead, their staff ace may have already been in the rotation.

At the trade deadline, the Pittsburgh Pirates were surprising buyers. Even though they had a minimal chance of sneaking into the postseason, they brought in a theoretical staff ace in Chris Archer and a solid setup man in Keone Kela, the Pirates were building towards being a postseason contender over the next few seasons.

However, based on their recent returns, the Pirates may have already located a top of the rotation starter. Trevor Williams, who was expected to take that step forward this season, has done exactly that since the middle of July. His overall numbers on the season have been solid, but his recent performance has been otherworldly.

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Over the course of the season, Williams has arguably been the Pirates best starter, posting a 3.30 ERA and a 1.190 WHiP in his 142 innings. Those numbers are certainly impressive, but there were still reasons for concern. He has struck out 98 batters in his 142 innings, and while he has not beaten himself with walks, that contact oriented approach may not be sustainable for success.

Yet, over this recent run, Williams has continued that same approach. In his 54.2 innings, he has struck out 34 batters, a slightly lower K/9 rate than what he has produced this season. Where Williams has excelled is in getting the opposition to hit into outs, as he has allowed a .205/.271/.284 batting line in this run of success.

Interestingly, that mark is not too far from what Williams has allowed this season. Opponents have a meager .230/.297/.371 batting line, with a .255 batting average on balls in play. Williams may well regress to the mean, as he did allow a .297 BABiP last year, but he still produced a respectable campaign.

Interestingly, he has gotten this done as a fly ball pitcher, going away from his previous norms. This change in approach has come from a tweaking of his arsenal, where Williams has slowly been fazing out his sinker. While he still throws the sinker and slider occasionally, Williams has become more of a fastball/changeup pitcher, using that change in speeds to keep the opposition off balance.

So far, it has worked, with the Pittsburgh Pirates getting more than they could have expected from Trevor Williams. If he can continue his progression, they may have that top of the rotation option they have been looking for.