Player of the Week: Vandebilt’s Cassidy Barrios
November 26, 20142014 Houma Heart & Soles Race Results
November 26, 2014
Houma native and professional baseball player Justin Williams will be wearing a new cap in the 2015 baseball season.
He is now a member of the Tampa Bay Rays’ farm system.
The American League East club acquired Williams last weekend in a three-player trade with the Arizona Diamondbacks – the team that drafted Williams in the 2nd Round of the 2013 MLB Draft.
In exchange for Williams (No. 14 in the D-Backs’ system) and fellow prospect Andrew Velazquez (No. 12 in the D-Backs’ system), Arizona acquired Major League pitcher Jeremy Hellickson, who posted a 1-5 record with a 4.52 ERA in 13 starts last season.
The move frees money for the cash-strapped Rays, while also allowing the team to build for the future – one that Williams may factor heavily into.
Attempts to reach Williams by telephone during the week were unsuccessful, but he expressed his excitement about the transition through his official Instagram account. Williams also thanked the Diamondbacks for drafting him and giving him an opportunity out of high school.
“It’s been nice playing for the Diamondbacks,” he said via an Instagram post. “I really appreciate the opportunity.”
“I am officially a Tampa Bay Ray,” Williams added in another post, while commenting with fans and friends about his excitement to be with a new team.
It’s pretty easy to see why the Rays wanted Williams’ services. He’s been a hitting machine throughout his two seasons in the minor leagues.
After signing a seven-figure contract with the D-Backs’ organization following the 2013 draft, Williams played 51 games for three teams in the Arizona farm system in the summer of 2013.
During his maiden voyage in the minors, Williams had immediate success. He hit .351 (73-of-208) with one home run and 37 RBIs. Williams drew 11 walks in his first season and smacked 18 doubles to earn a .397 on-base percentage.
After the 2013 season, Williams said he worked out hard to polish his skills so that he could be a better, more complete player.
In an interview with The Times in July, the Houma native said he didn’t take anything for granted, working on all facets of baseball – offense, defense, fundamentals and everything else.
“I just worked on everything,” Williams said. “I wanted to do whatever I could to just be a more complete, balanced player. I knew that I had a lot of things that I could correct and be better at, so I just wanted to make sure I did the best that I could to keep getting better.”
This year, the fruits of those labors paid off and Williams was an absolute terror for the Diamondback organization. Playing in 74 combined games between two different teams, Williams again hit .351 (102-of-291). But in 2014, he showcased better power, stroking four home runs with 46 RBI. Williams also recorded 12 doubles, five triples and walked 24 times.
Williams ended his season playing Class A ball for the South Bend Silver Hawks, helping lead the team to the playoffs. Williams hit .284 with two homers and 23 RBI in 28 games with South Bend. One of those home runs was a walk-off shot that helped the team win a critical late-season game.
“Hitting my first walk-off home run in South Bend, I would say, is the most exciting moment I’ve had in professional baseball,” Williams told The Times in September when asked to tell the story of his 2014 season. “This season has been great. I’ve really been seeing the ball well.”
Because of his successes and his youth, Williams, 19, is widely regarded as one of the top outfielding prospects in the game.
With the Rays, he will likely begin next season in A-ball. If he continues to ascend through the ranks, he has an opportunity to join former LSU great Mikie Mahtook, who is also a member of the Tampa Bay system.
MLB expert Jonathan Mayo said he fully expects Williams’ progression to continue with Tampa Bay. He added that he wouldn’t be shocked to see the Houma native playing for in the Majors within the next few seasons.
He said Williams’ combination of power, speed and defense make him valuable. The Rays’ scouts are widely considered among the best in baseball, so the fact that they desired Williams is an obvious sign of respect to his talents and ability to make an impact at the big league level in the future.
“Justin Williams has just a ton of raw talent,” Mayo said. “He was one of the younger players in the 2013 Draft class, so the D-Backs moved him up slowly as a result. But he’s held his own both in rookie ball and also in postseason ball in 2014.”
The baseball expert said he expects the Rays to work with Williams on pitch recognition in the future. Once they get that fixed, Mayo suspects that Williams will become an elite slugger.
“He’s big and strong,” Mayo said. “He has the big-time power profile that fits well in a corner outfield spot. I think he will be among the Rays’ Top 10 prospects now that this trade has been completed.”
