CLEARWATER, Fla. — It's astonishing to look around the Phillies' spring training clubhouse and note the even distribution between legitimate prospects and veterans. In the big picture it's a good thing, and it's a major departure from the way the 40-man roster has been shaped the last few seasons.
It was a goal for the Phils' new front office this spring to get the young guys some experience in big-league camp, let them learn and see what they've got.
J.P. Crawford, Roman Quinn and Jorge Alfaro had already taken the field by the time Thursday came around. All three went to Tampa as the Phillies had split-squad games there against the Yankees and in Clearwater against the Astros. At Bright House Field, Jake Thompson and Zach Eflin were the first two pitchers to enter, and Nick Williams got out of bed to play nine innings ... literally.
Williams, bedridden the previous three days with a sinus infection, was back at the ballpark Thursday and played all nine innings in right field in the Phillies' 3-2 loss to the Astros (see story).
Just as it was for Thompson and Eflin, it was Williams' first opportunity to play in a major-league spring training game. Williams' first plate appearance came to start the second inning against veteran right-hander Doug Fister. Fister is known for impeccable control — he has the lowest walk rate among all active major-league starting pitchers. And if there's a knock on the multi-talented Williams, it's his plate discipline. So naturally, Fister walked him on four pitches.
"It was great just to see a big-league arm for the first time," Williams said at his locker after the game. "I was trying to be patient because we had a long inning the inning before. I wanted my pitch. I didn’t get it."
Williams went 1 for 3 on the afternoon with an infield single, two walks and two strikeouts, including the game-ender against Astros pitcher Jandel Gustave, who was throwing 97 mph in Houston's first spring training game. Grapefruit League stats don't count, but it was noteworthy because Williams had just three walks in 100 plate appearances with Reading last season after coming over in the Cole Hamels trade.
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Williams got off to a great start at Double A last summer after that Hamels trade, going 17 for 41 in his first nine games with Reading with three doubles, a triple, three homers, seven RBIs and 12 runs. But still, he talked then about the flaw in his offensive game: He didn't walk enough. It was something the Rangers wanted him to work on in the winter before 2015 and something the Phillies talked to him about entering this season.
"I don’t know if I want the approach to be extremely patient [this season]," Williams said. "I just want to see a pitch that’s up in the zone."
Indeed, there is a difference between plate patience and plate selection. Most hitters would prefer to be described as selective rather than patient. And you don't have to walk as much as Joey Votto to fit that bill.
"At the end of the day, I know I'm gonna hit," Williams said last summer. "They can say I strike out a lot or don't walk enough, but a hitter's gonna hit and that's what my hitting coach [once] told me. The walks, I guess, come with maturity at the plate, taking more pitches."
Williams, who has played so much more center field and left field in his minor-league career than right field, had a shaky play there in the first inning Thursday. George Springer hit an opposite-field line drive that Williams initially misjudged and missed by a few inches when he dove. It wasn't an awful play. He may not have even had a chance to get it had he reacted perfectly.
Williams was playing right because Odubel Herrera was in center and Peter Bourjos was in left. Both Herrera (2 for 5, double, triple) and Bourjos (2 for 4, walk) had good games, and it's important for them to continue to play the positions they'll likely be in when the regular season starts. The split-squad games Thursday limited manager Pete Mackanin's options at Clearwater, and so as a result Williams went right from the sick bed to a position he rarely plays.
"I was all right out there after like the first two innings, after I saw some balls hit to me," Williams said. "I feel comfortable playing all [three outfield spots]. It doesn't matter, wherever I can play."
Williams will likely open the season in Triple A outfield, but however long he's at big-league camp, this should be a valuable experience for him. It's not the easiest thing to be selective at the plate against spring training fastballs. Mackanin said after the game that because of the illness, he didn't expect much from Williams. But Thursday was a good start.