Rays No. 1 prospect Williams taps into power potential in career game
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Carson Williams' first full season at Triple-A Durham has had its ups and downs.
The Rays' top prospect has shown his signature shortstop defense and ample power. There's also been plenty of swing-and-miss, and he hasn't been above the Mendoza Line since April 13.
Beneath it all, though, Williams has been displaying the tools that make him a potential All-Star and MLB's No. 21 overall prospect. And that translated into perhaps the best game of his career on Sunday, a 4-for-5 performance with two home runs and seven RBIs in the Bulls' 10-2 win over Jacksonville at Vystar Ballpark.
Even in a relatively down season, Williams has displayed impressive power. His damage per batted ball event (31.4 percent, 93rd percentile), 90th percentile EV (107.6 mph, 91st) and Max EV (111.7 mph, 82nd) are all elite. That's part of the reason why his nine home runs this season are tied for 16th in the International League, five off the league lead.
The 21-year-old left little doubt on his first home run of the day. Facing southpaw Patrick Monteverde (Marlins), he crushed a cutter over the plate at 104.6 mph to center field to drive in three. The second roundtripper was even more thunderous, a 107.7 mph shot off a hanging sweeper, which plated three more runs off righty Seth Martinez.
Williams jumped on a high sinker to shoot a single the other way in the sixth inning, which plated his final run of the day. And the 2021 first-rounder capped it off in the ninth with another rocketed line drive -- at 104.9 mph off a 2-2 high fastball.
In all, this made for his seventh career multihomer game and second at the Minors' highest level (the other came on May 7). It also was a career high in RBIs and one off his professional best in hits (five on Aug. 13, 2023).
Despite the overall numbers -- Williams' OPS rose from .639 to .690 -- he has been quite disciplined at the plate. The issues have been twofold: his 72.6 percent in-zone contact rate is among the lowest at Triple-A, and he's been particularly vulnerable against secondary pitches, whiffing on more than half his swings (52.5 percent).
It was only one game, but Williams was not hampered by those problems on Sunday. He held his own against sweepers and splitters, spat on pitches out of the zone and crushed hittable balls.
Williams doesn't need to hit too much to be a valuable big leaguer given how strong he is defensively, with 70 grades for both his glove and arm. The Bulls did play him at third base on Saturday -- his first professional game off short -- to defer to the rehabbing Ha-Seong Kim, but the Rays believe he's the best defensive shortstop in the Minors.
And as he showed on Sunday, if he can iron out his other issues, Williams has the potential to be more than just an ace defender.