Johnathan Mackensey Williamson (born July 15, 1990) is an American former

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to cat ...

. He played in the

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB) for the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Yor ...

and

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West division. The team joined the American League ...

, and in the

KBO League The KBO League (), officially the Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League, is the highest level league of baseball in South Korea. The KBO League was founded with six franchises in 1982 and is the most popular sports league in South Korea. The Kia Tigers ar ...

for the

Samsung Lions The Samsung Lions () are a South Korean professional baseball team founded in 1982. They are based in the southeastern city of Daegu and are members of the KBO League. Their home stadium is Daegu Samsung Lions Park. They have won the Korean Champ ...

. Williamson played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional pl ...

Wake Forest University Wake Forest University is a private research university in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Founded in 1834, the university received its name from its original location in Wake Forest, north of Raleigh, North Carolina. The Reynolda Campus, the un ...

Career

Williamson attended

Wake Forest-Rolesville High School Wake Forest High School, formerly Wake Forest-Rolesville High School, is a four-year high school (9–12) located in Wake Forest, North Carolina. Demographics In 2016–2017 there were just over 2,000 students attending Wake Forest High ...

Wake Forest, North Carolina Wake Forest is a town in Franklin, Granville and Wake counties in the U.S. state of North Carolina; located almost entirely in Wake County, it lies just north of the state capital, Raleigh. At the 2020 census, the population was 47,601. That is ...

. He played for the school's baseball team as a

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

, and was rated the best pitching prospect in the state of North Carolina. He chose to enroll at

to play

for the

Wake Forest Demon Deacons The Wake Forest Demon Deacons are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Wake Forest University, located in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. They compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level as a mem ...

. He redshirted as a freshman, and played for Wake Forest as an

. The

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

chose Williamson in the 46th round of the

2011 MLB Draft The 2011 Major League Baseball draft was held from June 6 through June 8, 2011, from Studio 42 of the MLB Network in Secaucus, New Jersey. The Pittsburgh Pirates selected Gerrit Cole out of the University of California, Los Angeles, with the first ...

, but he decided to return to Wake Forest for his senior year.

San Francisco Giants

In the

2012 MLB draft The 2012 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft was held from June 4 through June 6, 2012, from Studio 42 of the MLB Network in Secaucus, New Jersey. The Houston Astros, with the first overall pick, selected Carlos Correa from the Puerto R ...

, the

selected Williamson in the third round, with the 115th overall selection. He signed with the Giants, beginning his professional career in the Rookie-level

Arizona League The Arizona Complex League (ACL) is a rookie-level Minor League Baseball league that operates in and around Phoenix, Arizona, since 1988. Prior to 2021, it was known as the Arizona League (AZL). Along with the Florida Complex League (FCL), it f ...

, hitting two

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

s in 19

plate appearance In baseball statistics, a player is credited with a plate appearance (denoted by PA) each time he completes a turn batting. Under Rule 5.04(c) of the Official Baseball Rules, a player completes a turn batting when he is put out or becomes a runner ...

s. The Giants then promoted Williamson to the

Salem-Keizer Volcanoes The Salem-Keizer Volcanoes are a baseball team located in Keizer, Oregon, who are charter members of the Mavericks Independent Baseball League, a four-team league entirely based in the Salem Metropolitan Statistical Area and playing all their home ...

of the

Class A-Short Season Class A Short Season (officially Short-Season A) was a level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States from 1965 through 2020. In the hierarchy of minor league classifications, it was below Triple-A, Double-A, Class A-Advanced (cre ...

Northwest League The Northwest League is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Pacific Northwest, Northwestern United States and Western Canada. A Class A Short Season league for most of its history, the league was promoted to High-A as part of Maj ...

, where he hit seven home runs in 125 plate appearances. In 2013, the Giants assigned Williamson to the

San Jose Giants The San Jose Giants are a Minor League Baseball team of the California League and the Single-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants. Located in San Jose, California, the Giants play their home games at Excite Ballpark. Games San Jose Giants ga ...

of the

Class A-Advanced High-A (officially Class High-A, formerly known as Class A-Advanced, and sometimes abbreviated "A+" in writing) is the third-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States and Canada, below Triple-A and Double-A, and abov ...

California League The California League is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in California. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 until its demotion to Single-A following Major Leag ...

. He hit 25

s for San Jose. In 2014, he was invited to his first

spring training Spring training is the preseason in Major League Baseball (MLB), a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for Schedule (workplace), roster and position spo ...

. Though the Giants wanted to assign Williamson to the

Richmond Flying Squirrels The Richmond Flying Squirrels are a Minor League Baseball team based in Richmond, Virginia. The team, which is a part of the Eastern League, is the Double-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants major league club, and plays at The Diamond. Th ...

of the

Class AA Double-A (officially Class AA) is the second-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States since 1946, below only Triple-A. There are currently 30 teams classified at the Double-A level, one for each team in Major League ...

Eastern League to start the 2014 season, an elbow injury led them to keep him in San Jose, where he could still play as a

designated hitter The designated hitter (DH) is a baseball player who bats in place of another position player, most commonly the pitcher. The position is authorized by Major League Baseball Rule 5.11. It was adopted by the American League in 1973 and later by th ...

. After beginning the season with a .318

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

and three home runs, Williamson went on the

disabled list In Major League Baseball (MLB), the injured list (IL) is a method for teams to remove their injured players from the roster in order to summon healthy players. Before the 2019 season, it was known as the disabled list (DL). General guidelines ...

with a torn

ulnar collateral ligament of the elbow The ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) or internal lateral ligament is a thick triangular ligament at the medial aspect of the elbow uniting the distal aspect of the humerus to the proximal aspect of the ulna. Structure It consists of two portion ...

and had

Tommy John surgery Ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction, colloquially known as Tommy John surgery (TJS), is a surgical graft procedure where the ulnar collateral ligament in the medial elbow is replaced with either a tendon from elsewhere in the patient's bo ...

, ending his 2014 season. Williamson would go on to fully recover from the surgery without complication. In 2015, he began the season with Richmond and the Giants promoted him to the

Sacramento River Cats The Sacramento River Cats are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and are the Triple-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants. Prior to 2015, the River Cats were the Triple-A affiliate of the Oakland Athletics for 15 yea ...

of the

Class AAA Triple-A (officially Class AAA) has been the highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States since 1946. Currently, two leagues operate at the Triple-A level, the International League (IL) and the Pacific Coast League (PCL ...

Pacific Coast League The Pacific Coast League (PCL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Western United States. Along with the International League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade bel ...

in June. The Giants promoted Williamson to MLB on September 16, 2015. He made his MLB debut with the Giants on September 23. He made his first MLB start in right field on September 25, 2015, and got his first MLB hit off

Sonny Gray Sonny Douglas Gray (born November 7, 1989) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Minnesota Twins of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played for the Oakland Athletics, New York Yankees, and Cincinnati Reds. Gray attended ...

of the

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (often referred to as the A's) are an American professional baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The te ...

. In 2016, Williamson began the season with Sacramento, and received a promotion to the major leagues on April 15, but was sent back to the minors a week later. On June 2, Williamson was called up after

Hunter Pence Hunter Andrew Pence (born April 13, 1983), nicknamed "The Reverend", is an American former professional baseball right fielder and designated hitter. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Houston Astros, Philadelphia Phillies, San Fra ...

suffered an injury. On June 8, 2016, Williamson hit his first major league home run off David Price of the

, a tie-breaking shot in the bottom of the eighth inning. During 2017 spring training, Williamson was in competition for the left field job, competing against other outfielders. He suffered a minor injury towards the end of spring training, which would cause him to miss opening day. Williamson was ping-ponged back and forth between the MLB and triple-A throughout the 2017 season and began to make large contributions to the team near the season's end, including a 3 for 3 performance with a monstrous home run against Clayton Kershaw on September 24, 2017. Williamson (32423366587) (cropped)

On March 28, 2019, Williamson was

designated for assignment Designated for assignment (DFA) is a contractual term used in Major League Baseball (MLB). A player who is designated for assignment is immediately removed from the team's 40-man roster, after which the team must within seven days, return the pla ...

, after failing to make the Opening Day roster. On April 4, 2019, Williamson cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A. On June 1, 2019, Williamson elected to become a free agent after clearing waivers a second time in 2019.

Seattle Mariners

On June 5, 2019, Williamson signed a minor league contract with the

. The Mariners immediately selected his contract after the signing. In his first plate appearance with the Mariners, Williamson hit a 3-run home run. On July 16, he was designated for assignment and later outrighted to Triple-A. Williamson left the team on July 23, 2019, in order to pursue an opportunity in Korea.

Samsung Lions

On July 25, 2019, Williamson officially signed a $275,000 deal with the

of the

. He became a free agent following the season.

Washington Nationals

On January 15, 2020, Williamson signed a minor league deal with the

Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C.. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. From 2005 to 2007, the team played in RFK Stadiu ...

. He was released on May 29, 2020.

Personal life

Williamson was born in Jacksonville, Florida, on July 15, 1990. He grew up in Wake Forest, North Carolina, with his three brothers, Renn, Cameron, and Christian. In November 2020, Williamson filed a personal injury lawsuit against China Basin Ballpark Company LLC, which owns and operates

Oracle Park Oracle Park is a Major League Baseball stadium in the SoMa neighborhood of San Francisco, California. Since 2000, it has been the home of the San Francisco Giants. Previously named Pacific Bell Park, SBC Park, and AT&T Park, the stadium's curre ...

, after tripping in the ballpark's on-field bullpen, hitting his head against a wall and suffering a concussion while trying to catch a fly ball in April 2018. Williamson claimed that he was still suffering from symptoms including nausea and dizziness which effectively ended his career.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Williamson, Mac 1990 births Living people American expatriate baseball players in South Korea Arizona League Giants players Baseball players at the 2015 Pan American Games Baseball players from North Carolina KBO League outfielders Major League Baseball outfielders Pan American Games medalists in baseball Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States People from Wake Forest, North Carolina Richmond Flying Squirrels players Sacramento River Cats players Salem-Keizer Volcanoes players Samsung Lions players San Francisco Giants players San Jose Giants players Seattle Mariners players Tacoma Rainiers players United States national baseball team players Wake Forest Demon Deacons baseball players Medalists at the 2015 Pan American Games