Phillies promoting Williams to Majors

The outfielder who once declared "I believe that no one has faster hands than me in Minor League Baseball" will get a chance to show off those skills on the game's biggest stage.
The Phillies are calling up No. 4 prospectNick Williams from Triple-A Lehigh Valley to make his Major League debut, according to an initial report by MLB.com's Todd Zolecki. The club confirmed the news Thursday afternoon. Howie Kendrick is going on the 10-day disabled list with a hamstring injury, opening up a spot for Williams on the 25-man roster. The Phillies start a three-game series in New York against the Mets on Friday.

Tweet from @Phillies: Welcome to The Show, @NickWilliams409! pic.twitter.com/Aztxt3sVig
The 23-year-old outfielder was hitting .280/.328/.511 with 15 homers, two triples, 16 doubles and five stolen bases in 78 International League games at the time of the promotion. It's his second campaign with the IronPigs after hitting with .258/.287/.427 with 13 homers in 125 games last season.

A second-round pick by the Rangers in 2012, Williams was acquired by the Phillies in the eight-player deal headlined by Cole Hamels going the other way at the deadline in 2015. He was a top-100 prospect as recently as the end of the 2016 season, when he was slotted at No. 49 overall, but a lack of plate discipline led to his stock dropping.
The left-handed slugger struck out in 25.8 percent of his 527 plate appearances with Lehigh Valley in 2016 and walked only 3.6 percent of the time, resulting in a 0.14 BB/K ratio that ranked 62nd among the IL's 63 qualified hitters. His .287 OBP also ranked seventh-lowest in the circuit. When he did make contact, his power bolstered his offensive value. He ranked fifth in the IL with 52 extra-base hits, resulting in a league-average 100 wRC+. Because of that power potential, he was added to the Phillies' 40-man roster in November in an effort to protect him from the Rule 5 Draft.
Williams has again had issues in 2017, with his strikeout rate going up to 29.5 percent. But he's also walking more (5.3 percent), and his power has taken a big jump. His 15 homers have already eclipsed his 2016 total in 225 fewer plate appearances. He's tied for third in the International League with 33 extra-base hits in 77 games and he ranks seventh out of 73 qualified batters with a .234 isolated slugging percentage. As such, he's been a well-above-average hitter in the IL with a 127 wRC+ this season.
The Phillies emphasized this spring that Williams should wait for a driveable pitch before taking his hacks, and it looks like the plan is working. 
Defensively, the Texas native has played all three outfield spots this season, but the bulk of his time has been in right. He's unlikely to knock Odúbel Herrera out of center, so he'll compete with Daniel Nava, Aaron Altherr and Cameron Perkins for work in the corners with the big club.