Devin Williams begins throwing program amid difficult 2025 Mets debut season

Devin Williams has begun a throwing program, MLB.com reported, a development that points toward recovery from an injury that has colored what the reliever himself described as a debut Mets season that has been "kind of been all over the place."

What happened

MLB.com reported that Williams has started a throwing program, which typically represents an early-to-middle stage of a pitcher's return from arm or shoulder trouble — the point at which a player moves from rest and treatment toward something that at least resembles baseball activity. The club has not announced a timetable, a diagnosis, or a target date for his return to game action.

Williams's own characterization of the season — "kind of been all over the place" — was offered to MLB.com and carries the weight of someone who has watched a debut year unfold in ways that did not match the plan. It is not a quote that demands much editorial interpretation. Sometimes a player says the quiet part at a reasonable volume, and the desk simply nods.

Why it matters

Williams arrived in New York carrying a reputation as one of the more difficult relievers in the game to square up, built on years of elite performance and a signature pitch that has given hitters fits. A debut season derailed by injury is, at minimum, an operational problem for a bullpen that has had to manage without him. The Mets have not announced the specific nature of the injury, so the full picture of what Williams has been dealing with remains incomplete.

What the throwing program does signal, at least loosely, is that the situation has not deteriorated to the point where activity is off the table. A pitcher beginning to throw is not a pitcher returning to a major-league mound — there are many steps between those two points — but it is a different category of news than a pitcher who is not yet throwing. The distinction matters when you are trying to understand where a roster stands heading into September.

Where the club stands

The Mets carry a 64-78 record (.451), sitting fifth in the NL East, 20 games back of the division lead. The Wild Card picture is no more forgiving — New York ranks 10th in that race, 10.5 games relative to the cut line. The club dropped its most recent game, entering Monday on a one-game losing streak.

A record like that reframes every roster conversation. The Mets are not managing a bullpen for October positioning at this point; they are managing it for the remainder of a season that has not gone the way anyone in the organization drew it up. That context does not diminish the Williams news — a pitcher beginning a throwing program is still a pitcher beginning a throwing program, and the club will want to know what it has available going forward — but it does change the urgency calculus. The question of whether Williams can contribute in 2025 is real, but it sits inside a broader season that has already moved well past the point where a single reliever's return reshapes the standings picture.

The Mets head into a three-game road series at Tampa Bay's Tropicana Field to close out August and open September. Monday's game sends Robert Stock to the mound against Ian Seymour. Tuesday features Sean Manaea against Freddy Peralta. Wednesday closes the set with Justin Hagenman opposing Griffin Jax. It is the kind of schedule that will keep the pitching staff occupied regardless of who is or is not available out of the bullpen.

It is also worth noting that September 1 brings the standard expansion of the active roster from 26 to 28 players under general league rules, which gives clubs a modest amount of additional flexibility to carry arms. That mechanical shift does not change what Williams is or is not able to do, but it does mean the Mets will have slightly more room to maneuver as they sort out their bullpen picture over the final weeks of the season. For a pitcher working through a throwing program, the general framework of rehab assignments — up to 30 days for pitchers before a player must be activated or moved — also becomes relevant context as any potential return sequence takes shape, though the club has announced no such plans.

What we don't know yet

MLB.com's report does not include a diagnosis, a description of the injury, a timeline for Williams to progress through his throwing program, or any indication of when — or whether — he might return to pitching in games this season. The throwing program is a beginning, not a destination.

The club has not announced what stage of the program Williams is in, what the next benchmarks look like, or what a realistic return window might be. "Kind of been all over the place" is an honest summary of the season, but it is not a medical update, and the desk is not in the business of filling in the blanks that the reporting leaves open.

What to watch

The natural follow-up question is straightforward: does Williams progress through his throwing program without setback, and does the club eventually announce a more specific return target? A pitcher moving from a throwing program to bullpen sessions to a potential rehab assignment represents a sequence of steps, each of which would carry its own news value.

For now, the Mets head to Tampa Bay with a bullpen that has been operating without one of the arms it was built around, a record that reflects a difficult season across the board, and a reliever who has at least reached the point of throwing again. Whether that throwing program leads somewhere meaningful in 2025 is the question the club and Williams are both working to answer.

The desk will be watching for any club announcement on his progress. Until then, the throwing program is what it is: a start.