The Pirates are selecting the contract of infield prospect Alika Williams from Triple-A Indianapolis, reports Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The 24-year-old will be making his MLB debut whenever he takes the field.
Williams, acquired from the Rays in the trade that sent righty Robert Stephenson to Tampa Bay, was the No. 37 overall draft pick by the Rays in 2020. After a tough stretch in Double-A with the Rays, where he hit .237/.314/.417 (93 wRC+) in 175 plate appearances, Williams is batting .305/.384/.531 (126 wRC+) in 148 Triple-A plate appearances with the Bucs. He’s trimmed his strikeout rate from 19.4% in Double-A to 14.9% in Triple-A, while his walk rate has crept up from 8.4% to 10.1%.
Scouting reports on Williams have typically pegged him as a glove-first option at shortstop with plus speed and minimal power. He’s popped a career-high 12 home runs in the minors this season, however, adding another 19 doubles and a triple. On the basepaths, he’s 6-for-8.
If he’s able to continue that surprising power output at the big league level, it’s possible Williams could eventually outperform the generally modest expectations that peg him as a potential utility infielder at the big league level. Even if he winds up as more of a contact- and defense-oriented infielder, however, his glove at short and ability to handle either second base or third base would give him a good chance to carve out a spot on a big league bench.
The Bucs are dealing with a potential injury of note for utilityman Tucupita Marcano, as Justice de los Santos of MLB.com tweeted last night that Marcano was pulled from the game with what appears to be a ligament injury in his knee. If Marcano is indeed headed to the injured list, Williams could step into his bench spot and see occasional work around an infield that’s currently relying on young options like Jared Triolo (25), Nick Gonzales (24) and Liover Peguero (22) at third base, second base and shortstop while starters Ke’Bryan Hayes and Oneil Cruz are on the injured list.
He’s been doing real good recently. At the very least, he becomes the Pirates’ best middle infield defensive option.
If only they could DFA Shelton
I mean Jeff Fisher did get fired 1 year into his extension
I wonder if Cherington is reluctant to fire Shelton because it would appear as though the rebuilding failed and that wouldn’t go over well with Nutting.
He’d probably blame injuries to key players despite having a deep farm system
Late July call up, anyone have an over/under on how long before King of Cards is in here calling this service clock manipulation?
Versatile enough to play the outfield for the impending McCutchen trade too. Good move by Shelton.
They’re not trading McCutchen.
Slider without brains, you’ve been repeatedly told that Cutch isn’t getting traded
You’re almost as annoying as King of Cards
Shelton doesn’t make those decisions, the GM does
you really don’t know much, Slider. Is it deliberate?
And he doesn’t play in the outfield either, genius. He’s been the DH.
Still can’t believe the Rays traded him for a reliever rental. No doubt a ss. Hope he plays everyday. They got him zone in and wouldn’t want to mess with that.
Orioles fan here. Why doesn’t Rodolfo Castro’s name really ever seem to come up in the Pirates infield plan discussions? Is he limited defensively? He seems to put up decent numbers offensively the few times he’s been given a shot. There must be something they don’t like about him. Pirates fans, what’s the scoop?
The guy can’t hit rights to save his life. He’s hitting .173/.265/.192. He was struggling a bit at SS too. He’s had his chances to prove himself. The Pirates have a logjam at the MIF positions he will need to learn how to hit righties or be a career bench player to face lefties.
They have a glut of infielders that can’t hit righties, but not to fret, their phenomenal hitting coach will work his magic
Pretty much only a platoon infielder, but on the short end of the platoon (only hits LHP). Okay at second base and third base, but can’t field to save his life at shortstop. He’s not terrible, and platoon INFs have value, but Nick Gonzales has been much better recently, and once Oneil returns next season, the 2B depth chart will be pretty backed up.
Thx, appreciate the responses. Well, better to have several options rather than none, even if they are not ideal. Gives you more of a chance that one of them will rise up to the challenge.
Castro is a defensive liability with limited time, committing 11 errors, mostly playing 2nd base
Marcano or someone must be heading to the 60 day IL, to open the roster spot. They can always DFA, or trade someone. Trade is unlikely, unless it was already all but done.
Marcano was placed on the Injured List this morning
Thanks. I didn’t see that before posting. Probably 60 day. It took me 6 weeks to recover from a knee sprain with no ligament damage. I’m no professional athlete and I was Santana’s age at the time. All signs say done for the season.
Feel terrible for Marcano, injury did not look good at all.
I’m excited Williams is getting a shot. He’s definitely earned it, which isn’t always the case. Problem is I think Marcano was going to be sent down once Hayes was healthy, so unless Hayes is out longer term this might be a short stint in the majors for Williams.
Hmmm…that could easily be the case when Hayes comes back (Williams back to Indy then). But, I can’t help wondering if the lingering recovery for Cruz doesn’t mean they’d want an extended look at Williams and Peguero at this time…and we could see Triolo back to Indy for extensive play at 3B. Time will tell and the trade deadline might make other holes as well of course.
Tyler, maybe, but I think Triolo is up for good. He’s just a flat out good baseball player and I think the Pirates have realized that.
Like you said though, the trade deadline probably opens up a roster spot for both if Hayes isn’t back until after. Cruz will come back this year, but I’m still not sure how much SS he’ll actually play (he might DH most of the time), so I think there will be plenty of playing time at SS and 2b for Gonzales, Triolo, Williams, and Peguero down the stretch.
Marcano was only still on the roster because the Pirates couldn’t move forward without a backup middle infielder. He would have gone down when Hayes was back either way since Triolo could be the reserve middle infielder.
Prior to last night’s game, Marcano had been in a slump, offensively and wasn’t playing much, ever against right handed pitchers
They kept him up at the major league level for too long. Someone else could have had his roster spot but this is the Pirates after all
I believe that Marcano would have been sent down with the return of Hayes
I was surprised that Peguero came up instead of Williams a week or so ago. I agree with the poster who said these two will battle it out at SS for the next month or so, perhaps for the year if Cruz is held out for 2023. Once Hayes returns I think Triolo will go down. He is very good defensively and has a decent BA but has shown little power (OPS). It may be that Bae will also return to Indy.
At what time will they promote Andujar? The speculation is that when Santana is traded, yet no team has inquired about him.
And what happened to Choi? He doesn’t even play against righties anymore
I like Santana. He doesn’t hit for a high average but he leads the team in doubles and RBI, plus he’s a good defender at first base. The fact that he’s a switch hitter makes him more appealing
Indy-Llover has struck out in 10 of 18 at bats.
He is very young.
Let Williams play until he proves that he cannot.
Paul-Andujar needs to be brought up and play first base.
Choi is a better hitter than Santana and if kept can platoon with Andujar.
This is Shelton and the Pirates in answer to your questions.
Hayes went to Indy on Tuesday to begin a rehab and is projected to be back by the end of July
Someone will have to go back to the minors for Hayes to be activated
Last night’s game was pathetic. 3 hits, only 1 XBH. I keep preaching this, but BC can’t be too pleased with how the offense has regressed this year
Reynolds is now 0 for 13 against the Padres in this series. And Choi hasn’t played in nearly a week. How can a team not capitalize on 7 walks being issued?
Shelton’s ejection last night should have been a permanent one
Williams is obviously not ready for the major league
He’s another player that needs to be taught where the strike zone is
He swung at pitches nowhere near the plate in yesterday game