Phillies: 3 Important Things to Know About Luke Williams
By Matt Rappa
Three important things to know about Phillies rookie Luke Williams.
The Philadelphia Phillies have a new prospect in town — and it is not Nick Maton, who showed flashes of promise and even drew some comparisons to franchise great second baseman Chase Utley during his brief big-league stay.
Ahead of the team’s three-game home series opener against the Atlanta Braves, the Phillies announced several roster moves — including placing right-handed reliever Brandon Kintzler on the 10-day injured list and optioning Maton and southpaw Cristopher Sanchez to Triple-A Lehigh Valley. The Phillies also reinstated right-handers Chase Anderson and David Hale from the COVID-related injured list.
The most intriguing of the moves, however, was utility player Luke Williams having his contract selected from Triple-A. Williams is not only similar in player type to Maton, but also Scott Kingery, who was outrighted off of the 40-man roster on Monday — hence clearing waivers after still being owed part of his $24 million extension received prior to his respective big-league debut.
Here are three important things to know about the newest Phillies rookie, who, set to turn 25 in early August, was drafted in the third round of the 2015 draft out of high school.
1. He’s not highly ranked in the farm system.
Usually, when prospects are brought up to the majors, especially midway through a regular season, they are among the higher-ranked in the organization. For example, the Phillies have three infielders ranked in their top 10 by MLBPipeline.com — Bryson Stott (No. 2), Luis Garcia (No. 5), and Casey Martin (No. 6).
Williams, meanwhile, is ranked all the way down at the No. 29 spot on the top-30 Phillies prospect list, behind fellow infielders Logan Simmons (No. 14) and Jamari Baylor (No. 15).