Devin Williams could be seen talking to Carlos Mendoza in the dugout after his eighth-pitch bottom of the ninth.

The implication from outside observers was that Williams might pitch the 10th. It made sense — Williams had cruised through a quick ninth, he’s been pitching well recently and the Mets can’t afford to be blowing close games with the way their season’s gone.

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Alas, Williams did not pitch the 10th. Carlos Mendoza let Williams go out on a high, if brief, note. Tobias Myers took care of the last three outs to finish off a strong bullpen effort in a 3-1 win over the Diamondbacks at Chase Field.

Nonetheless, Williams did his job. He held the fort with a clean, stress-free ninth inning, allowing the Mets to go on and win it in extras.

That’s now six consecutive scoreless appearances for Williams. He’s allowed just one hit in that span, with eight strikeouts and zero walks over 5 2/3 innings.

Williams hasn’t walked a batter since April 21. He hasn’t allowed a run since April 23.

When the Mets were at their lowest, so was Williams. He allowed runs in four consecutive innings, with his ERA reaching a peak of 10.29. This recent stretch has lowered it to 5.68.

Entering Friday, Williams’ chase rate, whiff rate, strikeout rate and extension were all in the 98th percentile. Despite his early struggles, he’s still been flashing the elite stuff that’s made him so good in the past. His SO/9 is right around his career norm, approaching 15. A few too many walks and a couple of big innings were holding him back. He’s taken care of the walk issues recently, and his season is starting to take flight.

And it’s not just that he’s limiting walks now – he’s going after hittters and not nibbling. Friday’s outing was his third straight appearance throwing under 10 pitches. He’s thrown a total of 25 pitches in his last three games and recorded eight outs. In fact, his last four outings haven’t had a walk or a hit.

FanGraphs also had Williams with a comically high .500 BABIP entering Friday. His career average is .279. Especially with the type of stuff Williams has, there was no way that number was going to remain anywhere near that high. It suggests that not all of the damage against him was necessarily earned. The biggest stain on his line before this recent success was the six walks in seven innings — and, as discussed, he’s turned that around in a hurry.

Williams entered this season as a prime bounceback candidate, given his strong peripherals and all of the success he had in Milwaukee. When his season turned sour, the narrative — fairly or not — became that he can’t pitch in New York. But Williams, perhaps sort of quietly, has taken back the reins a little bit and regained control of his first season in orange and blue.

The Mets might just have a worthy closer here after all.