Rays are calling for potential infield customers Carson WilliamsJeff Passan of ESPN. He will occupy the active roster ha-seong kimAccording to Mark Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times, he will be on the injured list. King left yesterday’s game due to stiffness. The Rays also need to open a 40-person lineup.
Williams, 22, is the highest prospect for Rays and one of the most important prospects in the entire league. Rays ranked 28th in the 2021 draft. Currently, he ranks 74th in the US baseball game, 14th in Fangraphs, 24th in ESPN and 47th in MLB Pipeline.
From the differences between these numbers, Williams is a split prospect. The sport’s Keith Law gave him the No. 8 position this year, but was subsequently updated in 60 names that Williams has yet to mention.
The gap seems to be because Williams has a solid floor but huge doubt about his ceiling. In short, he was considered a powerful defender and runner with extra points, which gave him the floor. On the offense, he has a huge power, but hits a lot of tons. It seems that the focus of prospect evaluators on these strikeouts will undermine his future career as a major league.
On the optimistic side, Fangraphs put him with like Elly de la Cruz,,,,, Oneil Cruz and Ezequiel Tovarthey have enough to work on strikeout totals. They suggest Williams might be a player like this Willy Adames At some point, although nothing Adabetto Mondsey The future seems possible.
From traditional numbers, it is easy to see an optimistic view. Williams plays about 20 home runs a year and steals 20-35 bases a year. From 2021 to 2024, he stepped on the board 1,578 times in multiple levels. He beat it at 30.6%, but at the same time he walked at 11.4%. His .256/.353/.478 combined hit line translates to 132 WRC+.
His 2025 performance highlights pessimistic views, perhaps explaining why Law has dismissed Williams from his mid-season update. Williams has made 451 sets in the Triple-A class this year. He still has 23 home runs and 22 stolen bases and has a 12.4% walk rate, but has a high 3-point shooting percentage, lowering his batting average and benchmark rate. His .213/.318/.447 line this year translates to below 98 WRC+.
While on frequent strikes, it is difficult to succeed in professional success. Among qualified bats this year, Cruz has the highest strikeout rate at 31.9%. He hit some huge bumps, but his .207/.304/.398 series WRC+92. Riley Greene and James Wood It also has a strikeout rate of over 30% and has had even greater success, but it’s a tricky area.
Obviously, there are many possible outcomes here. If Williams can control strikeouts or the work around it, it’s the upside space of the star. The floor is not bad, as shortstop, which prioritizes speed gloves, is still a useful player, but that’s much lower than the stars.
At some point, the Rays will have to let him fight against major league pitches to see what happened, and now is a logical time. As mentioned, Kim is heading to the injured roster, at shortstop opening time. The club’s playoff spot dropped to 6.5 games. They are not completely buried in the standings, but tend to focus on the future rather than 2025.
It also works in terms of prospects promoting incentives. If the player is the highest prospect and meets certain criteria in reward voting, then he can win additional draft picks for his club. If the player starts a season in two of the three top 100 lists in BA, ESPN and MLB Pipeline, he will be eligible. If the club then improves the player enough in a season to win a full service year, the club will receive an additional draft pick if the player wins Rookie of the Year or gets the top three in the MVP or CY Young vote before the victory.
Now, it is too late for the player to receive 45 days of service. This means Williams will remain rookie into 2026, if the light keeps him from getting 130 hits. Assuming he is still on the 2026 prospect list, he will be eligible if the Rays put him in the 2026 opening day lineup.
Photo courtesy of Kim Klement Neitzel, Images by Imagn
