Phillies: 3 Important Things to Know About Luke Williams

3. Luke Williams impressed while helping Team USA reach the Olympics.

A .352/.439/.465 slash line with four doubles, two triples, and eight RBI spanning 18 games and 82 plate appearances is impressive enough for a prospect in just his sixth professional season (excluding 22 games with the Adelaide Giants in the Australian Baseball League last season).

But Luke Williams carried that momentum even further into recent international baseball action. In the process, Williams helped Team USA clinch one of the final spots for the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics, which have been rescheduled to this summer.

The 24-year-old helped the United States team go undefeated in the 2021 World Baseball Softball Confederation’s Baseball Americas Qualifier, with victories against Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic, Canada, and Venezuela.

Across 18 at-bats, Williams slashed .444/.778/.500 with six runs scored, five singles, one double, triple, home run, and a half-dozen RBI, along with tallying 14 total bases. Williams also posted a team-best 1.278 OPS and struck out only twice in the strong tournament showing.

It is important to note that Williams only played left field for the United States, not committing a single error. It’s possible could he stay in the majors and give Andrew McCutchen time off at the position, especially once Didi Gregorius returns from injury (creating less playing time for him at shortstop).

There is a lot to like about Williams, who could potentially make his big-league debut at some point in Tuesday’s game against the Braves. There are still plenty of unknowns about him, but whether he can find and sustain success in the majors will be apparent sooner than later. The Phillies could desperately use another homegrown prospect who does just that.