It’s hard to ignore what Rhys Hoskins is doing for the Phillies since being promoted, but fellow rookie Nick Williams is having a strong debut of his own.
It’s safe to say Rhys Hoskins has been the most exciting part of watching the Phillies this last month. His 17 home runs in his first 33 games as of Thursday completely shattered the previous record. He already has the third-highest home run total on the team despite playing 106 games fewer than Maikel Franco and 99 fewer than Tommy Joseph, the top two players on the team.
Lost in all this fanfare is the strong debut of rookie outfielder Nick Williams. It’s certainly understandable why some would overlook what he is doing considering how dominant Hoskins has been and the promotions of other top prospects like Jorge Alfaro and J.P. Crawford. However, Williams is holding his own so far in the majors.
This time last year, Williams was by no means a sure thing for the majors. In 125 Triple-A games, he posted a .258/.287/.427 line with just 19 walks and 136 strikeouts in 527 plate appearances. His extremely poor plate discipline was a huge cause for concern.
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Williams made some serious adjustments during the offseason and it showed as his batting average and on-base percentage both jumped considerably in Triple-A this year. He also hit more home runs compared to last season despite playing in 47 fewer games.
Williams was called up to the majors June 30 and since then he has been one of the team’s best hitters. Among hitters with 200 or more plate appearances, only Aaron Altherr has a better wRC+.
While Williams isn’t knocking home runs every other night like Hoskins, he has been a strong all-around hitter. His .296/.351/.502 line in 66 major-league games is more than acceptable. He does have 10 home runs and 48 runs batted in, so he certainly is contributing in that regard as well.
Perhaps the biggest step forward for Williams since reaching the majors is a continuing improvement of his plate discipline. Compared to his numbers in Triple-A this year, Williams has both a lower strikeout rate and higher walk rate in the majors. While they still aren’t top-of-the-line rates, it’s hard to complain about them with the consistent offensive production Williams has this year.
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General manager Matt Klentak believes that this is the player we should expect from Williams thanks to the improvements he made, and it’s hard to argue with the GM:
"“He has enough of a sample now that this is looks like the player Nick Williams is,” Phillies general manager Matt Klentak said. “And that’s not to say he can’t get better. He’s making improvements at the major-league level. Where some players come up and struggle and take steps back, he appears to be going the other way. He’s been a very positive development success story.”"
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Next season will be the real test for Williams as he will have to push through a full major-league season, but this season he has shown he is up for the task.