Billy Nicholas Williams (born September 8, 1993), is an American

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 ...

for the

Toros de Tijuana The Toros de Tijuana (or Tijuana Bulls) are a Mexican Baseball team based in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico. They are members of the Mexican Baseball League and play their home games at Estadio Chevron. Team history Original Attempt The fran ...

of the

Mexican League The Mexican League (, ) is a professional baseball league based in Mexico and the oldest running professional league in the country. The league has 18 teams organized in two divisions, North and South. Teams play 114 games each season. Five te ...

. He was drafted by the Texas Rangers, in the second round of the

2012 Major League Baseball 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 ...

. Williams made his major league debut with the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

in 2017.

Early life

Williams was born and raised in

Galveston, Texas Galveston ( ) is a coastal resort city and port off the Southeast Texas coast on Galveston Island and Pelican Island in the U.S. state of Texas. The community of , with a population of 47,743 in 2010, is the county seat of surrounding Galvesto ...

. He went to

Ball High School Ball High School is a public secondary school in Galveston, Texas, United States. Ball, which covers grades 9 through 12, is a part of Galveston Independent School District. Ball High School serves the cities of Galveston and Jamaica Beach a ...

in Galveston, graduating in 2012.

Baseball career

Texas Rangers

Williams was drafted by the Texas Rangers in the second round of the

out of high school. He had committed to

Texas A&M University Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...

, but signed with the Rangers for a $500,000

signing bonus A signing bonus or sign-on bonus is a sum of money paid to a new employee (including a professional sports person) by a company as an incentive to join that company. They are often given as a way of making a compensation package more attractive ...

. He made his professional debut in 2012 with the

Arizona League Rangers The Arizona Complex League Rangers are a Rookie-level affiliate of the Texas Rangers, competing in the Arizona Complex League of Minor League Baseball. The team plays its home games at Surprise Stadium in Surprise, Arizona. The team is compose ...

, hitting .313/.375/.448 with two

home runs 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 ...

in 201

at bat In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens during their turn at bat, but a batt ...

s over 48 games. He played the 2013 season with the

Hickory Crawdads The Hickory Crawdads are a Minor League Baseball team of the South Atlantic League (SAL) and the High-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers. They are located in Hickory, North Carolina, and play their home games at L. P. Frans Stadium, which opened i ...

. He played in 95 games during the season, hitting .293/.337/.543 with 17 home runs, 15

walk Walking (also known as ambulation) is one of the main gaits of terrestrial locomotion among legged animals. Walking is typically slower than running and other gaits. Walking is defined by an 'inverted pendulum' gait in which the body vaults ov ...

s, and 110

strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means that the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is deno ...

s over 376 at bats. Prior to the 2014 season, Williams was ranked by ''

Baseball America ''Baseball America'' is a sports enterprise that covers baseball at every level, including MLB, with a particular focus on up-and-coming players in the MiLB, college, high school, and international leagues. It is currently published in the form o ...

'' as the Rangers fourth-best prospect, and the 97th-best overall in baseball. Playing for three

minor league Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nor ...

teams in 2014, he hit .283 with 22 walks and 140

s in 452 at bats. After the season he played for the

Surprise Saguaros The Surprise Saguaros are a baseball team that plays in the West Division of the Arizona Fall League. They play their home games in Surprise, Arizona, at Surprise Stadium. The ballpark is also the spring training facility of the Kansas City Royals ...

in the

Arizona Fall League The Arizona Fall League (AFL) is an off-season sports league owned and operated by Major League Baseball (MLB) which operates during the autumn in Arizona, United States, at six different baseball complexes. Arizona Fall League rosters are fill ...

, and hit .277 with 1 walk and 32 strikeouts in 112 at bats.

Philadelphia Phillies

On July 31, 2015, Williams was traded to the

along with Matt Harrison,

Jorge Alfaro Jorge Mario Alfaro Buelvas (born June 11, 1993) is a Colombian professional baseball catcher who is a free agent. Alfaro signed with the Texas Rangers as a free agent in 2010, and was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies in 2015. He made his ML ...

Jake Thompson Jacob Keith Thompson (born January 31, 1994) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Leones de Yucatán of the Mexican League. He previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Phillies and for the Lotte Gian ...

, Alec Asher, and Jerad Eickhoff in exchange for

Cole Hamels Colbert Michael Hamels (born December 27, 1983), nicknamed "Hollywood", is an American professional baseball pitcher who is a free agent. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Phillies (2006–2015), Texas Rangers ( ...

and Jake Diekman. In 2016, in 125 games for the

Lehigh Valley IronPigs The Lehigh Valley IronPigs are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies. They are located in Allentown, Pennsylvania, and are named in reference to pig iron, used in the ...

in the

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

in Triple A, Williams batted .258 with 13 home runs and 64 RBIs along with a .287

on-base percentage In baseball statistics, on-base percentage (OBP) measures how frequently a batter reaches base. An official Major League Baseball (MLB) statistic since 1984, it is sometimes referred to as on-base average (OBA), as it is rarely presented as a ...

. He walked 19 times, and struck out 136 times in 497 at bats. That season, Manager

Dave Brundage David Charles Brundage (born October 6, 1964 in Portland, Oregon) is an American professional baseball manager. In , Brundage spent his first season as manager of the Sacramento River Cats, Triple-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants. His de ...

benched him a number of times, for disciplinary reasons ranging from him failing to hustle to him showing up opponents. Williams reacted to his benching by his manager, saying: "That’s his decision. I can’t do anything about it." Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said he was concerned about Williams "because we’re trying to establish a culture of playing the game the right way and we want players who grind it out, we want players who show energy." The Phillies added him to their 40-man roster after the 2016 season. In 2017, he batted .280/.328/.511 with 15 home runs and 44 RBIs for Lehigh Valley, and walked 16 times while striking out 90 times in 282 at bats. In 2019 he batted .316/.381/.574 with 10 home runs and 25 RBIs for Lehigh Valley, and walked 14 times while striking out 52 times in 190 at bats.

Major Leagues

The Phillies promoted Williams to the major leagues on June 30, 2017, and Williams made his MLB debut that night. On July 9, Williams hit his first MLB home run off of

Trevor Cahill Trevor John Cahill (born March 1, 1988) is an American professional baseball pitcher who is currently a free agent. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Oakland Athletics, Arizona Diamondbacks, Atlanta Braves, Chicago Cubs, Sa ...

of the Padres. Nine days later, on July 18 Williams hit his first career

grand slam Grand Slam most often refers to: * Grand Slam (tennis), one player or pair winning all four major annual tournaments, or the tournaments themselves Grand Slam or Grand slam may also refer to: Games and sports * Grand slam, winning category te ...

against the Brewers. As to his defense in the

outfield The outfield, in cricket, baseball and softball is the area of the field of play further from the batsman or batter than the infield. In association football, the outfield players are positioned outside the goal area. In cricket, baseball and ...

and baserunning, beat writer Matt Gelb wrote in ''

The Philadelphia Inquirer ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The newspaper's circulation is the largest in both the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the Delaware Valley metropolitan region of Southeastern Pennsy ...

'': "Progress is needed on defense and the bases. Williams has overcome bad reads in the outfield with his speed. But he’s shown cracks there. And, as a baserunner, Williams has committed mental mistakes. His instincts are not the sharpest. Sometimes, raw talent can rise above that." He batted .288/.338/.473 for the 2017 season with the Phillies with 12 home runs, one stolen base, and 55 RBIs, and walked 20 times while striking out 97 times in 313 at bats. On defense, he had a -9 Defensive Runs Saved (DRS) rating, the worst in the National League among right fielders. In 2018 he batted .256/.330/.434, with 16 home runs, 3 stolen bases, 58 RBIs, and 111 strikeouts in 407 at bats. On defense, he had a -15 Defensive Runs Saved rating, the 2nd-worst in the National League among right fielders, behind

Bryce Harper Bryce Aron Max Harper (born October 16, 1992) is an American professional baseball right fielder and designated hitter for the Philadelphia Phillies of Major League Baseball (MLB). Prior to his arrival in Philadelphia, Harper played for the Wash ...

. In 2019 he batted .151/.196/.245, with 2 home runs, 5 RBIs, and 43 strikeouts in 106 at bats (striking out 38.4% of the time). His batting average, on base percentage, and OPS (.442) were the lowest of all 219 NL batters who had 100 or more plate appearances, and his strikeout percentage was the highest. On August 11, 2020, Williams was designated for assignment by the Phillies.

Cincinnati Reds

On August 15, 2020, Williams was claimed off waivers by the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

and optioned to their alternate training site. On September 15, 2020, Williams was designated for assignment by the Reds without appearing in a game for the club. He became a free agent on November 2, 2020.

Chicago White Sox

On January 15, 2021, Williams signed a minor league contract with the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and p ...

organization. He was selected to the major leagues on April 8, 2021, to fill in for the injured Billy Hamilton. That night he was the starting left fielder for the White Sox, playing in his first MLB game since 2019. On April 15, 2021, Williams was designated for assignment after going hitless in 13 plate appearances for the team. On April 17 he was outrighted to the alternate training site. He was released on August 3, 2021, in 126 at bats in AAA he hit .262 with 4 HR and 13 RBIs.

Toros de Tijuana

On April 11, 2022, Williams signed with the

of the

Personal life

Williams began dating Brianna Goodfriend, whom he later married, while playing for the

Frisco RoughRiders The Frisco RoughRiders (often shortened to 'Riders) are a Minor League Baseball team of the Texas League and the Double-A (baseball), Double-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers (baseball), Texas Rangers. They are located in Frisco, Texas, and are nam ...

. His father is African American and his mother is Mexican American.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Nick Living people 1993 births American baseball players of Mexican descent American expatriate baseball players in Mexico Sportspeople from Galveston, Texas Baseball players from Texas Major League Baseball outfielders Philadelphia Phillies players Chicago White Sox players Arizona League Rangers players Hickory Crawdads players Myrtle Beach Pelicans players Frisco RoughRiders players Surprise Saguaros players Reading Fightin Phils players Lehigh Valley IronPigs players Charlotte Knights players Toros de Tijuana players African-American baseball players 21st-century African-American sportspeople