After batting .292 at the Single-A Advanced affiliate for Texas, Williams, 24, did not struggle in either of two Double-A leagues and finished with the Fightin Phils after the ’15 swap. His combined total was .303, 17 homers and 55 RBIs. For him, however, the adversity didn’t come until 2016 with the IronPigs: .258, 13 home runs and 64 RBIs. But last season, the outfielder had better results: .280, 15 bombs and 44 RBIs before joining the red pinstripes.
"ONLY YOU: “A lot of guys go, ‘Hey, Yog, say a Yogi-ism.’ I tell ’em, ‘I don’t know any.’ They want me to make one up. I don’t make ’em up. I don’t even know when I say it. They’re the truth. And it is the truth. I don’t know.” – Yogi Berra"
For two high school draftees, ’18 will probably be their first full 162 with the Philadelphia Phillies, and each will have different challenges. Regarding Crawford, he’ll be developing into a three-position semi-regular even though he averaged .214 with a .356 OBP for September. That stated, if he can hit .250 with a high OBP due to plate discipline, he’ll have a starting point to build on.
Despite lower expectations, Williams averaged .288 on the Phillies with 12 long balls and 55 RBIs for a 2018 total of 27 homers and 99 RBIs. But when you compare his stats to the other three, this guy can hit and nearly doubled the distance between his average and his OBP last summer: He went from .028 (.280/.308) for the Allentown affiliate to .050 (.288/.338) for the hometown nine. Hopefully, he won’t get too comfortable like Odubel Herrera.
With a hit-or-sit incentive, Crawford will be sharing playing time with Cesar Hernandez, Freddy Galvis and Maikel Franco, while Williams will be doing the same with Aaron Altherr, Rhys Hoskins and Herrera. But what will the other motivation be if this approach doesn’t work? Lehigh Valley!