In January 2017, in the middle of his sophomore year of high school, Williams made the decision to relocate from his home in Mississippi to attend IMG Academy in Florida, with the hopes that the instruction plus the challenge of better competition would pay off. That it did, as Williams shot up Draft boards over the next couple of years en route to an above-slot bonus after the Blue Jays made the Vanderbilt commit their second-round pick. In an abbreviated pro debut in 2019, the selection paid early dividends, with the 18-year-old posting a 1.13 ERA over six games – five starts – and 16 innings in the rookie Gulf Coast League, where he walked seven and struck out 19.
At 6-foot-6, Williams is the quintessential projectable high school right-hander, and he’s still maturing. His velocity continues to creep up to the mid-90s and his fastball plays up because of its steep plane and angle. He throws both a slider and a curveball, with success, with some scouts thinking the curve will ultimately work better with its spin and coming from his high-three-quarter slot. He has some feel for a future average changeup.
Despite his size, Williams tends to throw strikes and should have solid command and control, not to mention sharper stuff, once he figures out how to consistently repeat his delivery with his long limbs. There’s a lot to dream on and potentially huge upside, though he’ll need time to develop and refine his craft in the Minors.
Scouting grades: Fastball: 55 | Curveball: 55 | Slider: 45 | Changeup: 50 | Control: 50 | Overall: 50
In January 2017, in the middle of his sophomore year of high school, Williams made the decision to relocate from his home in Mississippi to attend IMG Academy in Florida, with the hopes that the instruction plus the challenge of better competition would pay off. That it did, as Williams shot up Draft boards over the next couple of years en route to an above-slot bonus after the Blue Jays made the Vanderbilt commit their second-round pick.
At 6-foot-6, Williams is the quintessential projectable high school right-hander. While he started the spring a bit slowly, in terms of his velocity, which was 87-91 mph, it's been ticking up, sitting 91-92 mph and regularly touching 94 mph, as it did during the shutout he threw at the USA Baseball National High School Invitational in March. His fastball plays up because of its steep plane and angle, and there should be more consistent velocity to come as he matures. He throws both a slider and curve, with success, with some scouts thinking the curve will ultimately work better coming from his high three-quarter slot. He has some feel for a future average changeup, though he didn't throw it much in high school.
Despite his size, Williams tends to throw strikes and should have solid command and control, not to mention sharper stuff, once he figures out how to consistently repeat his delivery with his long levers. There's a lot to dream on here, though, like most prep pitchers, he'll need time to develop and refine his craft in the Minors.
