He started off really hot and was playing quite a bit. But I don’t think I’ve seen him at all lately. Is anything going on? His bat has cooled off.
The real question is who would you not play to get him on the field?
Only person in lineup I would consider playing him ahead of would be Cole, and he has been much better of late. Plus he is a switch hitter.
Don’t think Williams is quite ready for SEC pitching, really.
Most of Williams’ hitting came against pitchers who wouldn’t see time in the SEC. From what I’m told, the coaches are hesitant to play him based on how he looked against the Hogs’ better pitchers in practices. Plus, there really is nowhere to put him in the infield. It would require Shaddy, Spanberger, Biggers or Gates to come out of the lineup, and that’s not going to happen.
Thanks, Matt. I kind of figured it was his hitting right now. Too bad though. I was hoping he would stay hot like his first few at bats.
As far as time in the field, I was thinking more of 3 or 4 innings of a DH or Wednesday game just to rest a starter.
I think when Gates came back, there really wasn’t a spot for Jaxon Williams to bat. They have a set lineup. Maybe they could rest someone in a midweek game, but there was a short period where they weren’t playing a lot of midweek games.
He played last night as the DH and went 0-for-5. He was the only starter not to record a hit, but did score a run after he drew a walk.
I noticed that. I also noticed he seemed to have a couple of really bad at bats. Some of his swings weren’t close to the ball & he went down looking at what looked like great pitches to swing at. Did he even hit into an out? Other than his walk, I only remember strike outs.
He had four strikeouts - two looking, two swinging. The only time he made contact was to end the fourth inning when he grounded out to the third baseman. But he did get that inning off on the right foot with a leadoff walk.