What to expect from Rays top-ranked prospect Williams in The Show
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In need of help at the shortstop position, the Rays are turning to the brightest young star in their system.
Tampa Bay is calling up top prospect Carson Williams on Thursday ahead of his Major League debut.
The 22-year-old shortstop had spent this entire season with Triple-A Durham, producing a .213/.318/.447 line through 111 games with the Bulls. He had also notched 23 homers and 22 steals, giving him his third straight 20-20 season and making him one of only six members of the 20-20 club in the Minors so far this year. Those 23 homers tie a career best, first set in 2023 when he primarily spent the season at High-A Bowling Green.
Ranked as MLB Pipeline’s No. 47 overall prospect, Williams has slipped in the Top 100 in his age-22 season primarily due to strikeout concerns. His 34.1 percent K rate is third-highest among Triple-A qualifiers in 2025, and his 38.7 percent whiff rate (i.e. misses per swing) is highest among Triple-A batters with at least 400 plate appearances. Where the right-handed slugger has struggled most is against sliders, sweepers and changeups, fanning on at least 40 percent of his swings against each of those pitch types.
But there have been promising signs of late. Entering Thursday, Williams has gone deep five times in his last 10 games for Durham. Push that even further back and since June 1, he has produced a .248/.352/.538 line in 60 games, good for an above-average 129 wRC+ in that span. Compare that to his marks of .173/.277/.341 and 61 wRC+ in his first 51 games through the end of May.
The truth is that Williams’ profile is one that runs hot and cold. His power is easily plus, as his 107 mph 90th-percentile exit velocity at Triple-A proves. That’s the exact same mark as Cal Raleigh and Wyatt Langford in the Majors, albeit with the caveats of coming against lower-level pitching.
Williams also swings exceptionally hard. The measure of a fast swing is considered 75 mph. While bat speed data can be tricky at Triple-A, Williams met or eclipsed that mark on 298 recorded swings before his callup. His fastest was 87.7 mph, right near the elite marks of the Majors.
It’s that impressive torque that helps the 2021 first-rounder get into his power consistently in his 6-foot-2 frame. It also plays into the athleticism that makes him such a high-floor player.
Williams is one of the best defensive players in all of the Minors, regardless of position. He uses above-average speed to make plays deep in the hole, and his hands rarely let him down to complete plays on the dirt. His arm strength has special carry too, making him a well-rounded package at short. He could be a perennial Gold Glove candidate, if his hit tool allows for enough regular playing time there.
There are players who can carry 30-plus percent K rates in the Majors and still be valuable – Oneil Cruz, Riley Greene and James Wood are three such examples in the bigs this year – and Williams’ defense and baserunning will give additional avenues for value. But the jump to Major League pitching is a significant one, and if he can’t keep the punchouts below, say, 35 percent, the hurdles he needs to clear elsewhere will be significantly higher to make up for it.
Williams gets this first MLB chance after José Caballero was traded to the Yankees at the Trade Deadline and while Taylor Walls (groin strain) and Ha-Seong Kim (back) are dealing with injuries. He was going to be Rule 5-eligible this offseason anyway, so this only moves up his 40-man roster addition by a few months. With Tampa Bay slipping away from a postseason spot, it can use the final weeks of the season to give its top prospect a taste of the Majors and evaluate whether he can carry his improving bat to his biggest stage yet.