Sizzlin’ Williams – Houma native ascends to Double-A baseball

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Houma native and pro outfielder Justin Williams is now one step closer to his dream of being a Major League Baseball player.

The Tampa Bay Rays announced early last week that they’d promoted Williams to Double-A – a level of the minor league system that is just two steps away from the MLB.

He now plays for the Montgomery Biscuits.

Williams earned his promotion after raking to start the season for the Charlotte Stone Crabs in Single-A. In 51 games with that team, Williams hit .330 (64-of-194) with 4 home runs and 31 runs batted in. The Terrebonne High graduate said it’s an honor to be moving forward in the Rays organization. He said the promotion motivates him to keep pushing toward the major leagues.

“I’m thankful for the opportunity,” Williams said of his promotion. “It feels good to accomplish what I’ve accomplished so far, but honestly, this call-up just motivates me to work even harder to continue to achieve the goals that I have.”

So far in Double-A, Williams has shown that he can walk the walk.

Williams’ last game with Charlotte came on July 16. He was 3-of-5 on that night, scoring three runs in the game.

After a day off to relocate, Williams went 0-of-4 in his first game with Montgomery but didn’t take long to settle in.

On July 20, Williams was 2-of-5, including a towering home run – his first at the Double-A level.

Williams said the pitch was fat and he put his entire body into the swing. Williams said seeing the ball go over the fence gave him a rush of adrenaline that’s hard to forget. In the video of the home run, Williams is seen flashing a smile as he enters his home-run trot.

“The home run felt great,” Williams said with a laugh. “It’s one of those things that you never can forget.”

But what makes it all better for Williams is that the first home run wasn’t his lone bright spot. Since hitting the initial dinger, Williams has two others – a red-hot week which has generated a lot of buzz by scouts in the Rays organization.

Through 11 games in Double-A, the Houma native is 13-of-43 at the plate (.302 average). He has three home runs and has scored 14 RBI.

Williams said he credits his teammates and the organization for the early Double-A success. He said the Montgomery Biscuits have a loose clubhouse – one where players are allowed to show their personalities.

That family-like feel is one of the things Williams said has sparked his success.

“We keep it really loose on and off the field,” Williams said. “So it makes it a bit easier to just go out there and have fun.”

But no matter the clubhouse feel, the truth is that Williams’ promotion to Double-A is the beginning of an ascent that many inside the organization believe is a predictable one.

Williams was drafted by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the Second Round of the 2013 MLB Draft. He reportedly received more than $1 million in a signing bonus – an incentive that prompted him to choose pro ball instead of a career at LSU, where he’d been committed since early in high school.

In Arizona’s system, Williams torched opposing pitching, batting .351 (73-of-208) with 37 RBIs in 51 games in 2013 and then .351 (102-of-291) again in 2014 with 4 home runs and 46 RBI in 74 games.

He said playing minor league baseball is an experience he will never forget.

Williams said a lot of folks think professional athletes are spoiled because of their big, high-dollar contracts.

But he said life in the minor leagues isn’t easy and it teaches a player to truly love a sport.

“We don’t get jets like the guys in the Big Leagues do,” Williams said last season. “We spend a lot of times on the bus – sometimes making a trip that lasts for 10 hours, 12 hours or sometimes even more. It’s not easy. It motivates you because if you want those things that you see on TV, you have to bust your tail and try your hardest to get to the absolute highest level.”

Williams was traded to the Rays’ organization in the offseason in 2014, and he made his debut in the Tampa farm system in 2015. In that season, Williams hit .277 with 7 home runs and 48 RBI, earning a position among the Rays’ top prospects on MLB.com.

Currently he’s listed as the No. 3 outfielder in the Tampa Bay minor league organization – a ranking that experts said may rise in the coming weeks if Williams continues on this pace.

If anyone in the Houma area wants to watch Williams’ games, they are all broadcast on MiLB.TV’s online package, which can be found at www.MiLB.tv.