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Phillies Designate Luke Williams For Assignment

By Anthony Franco | March 22, 2022 at 4:12pm CDT

The Phillies announced this afternoon they’ve designated utilityman Luke Williams for assignment. The move opens space on the 40-man roster for Nick Castellanos, whose five-year deal has been made official.

Philadelphia selected Williams in the third round of the 2015 draft. The right-handed hitter methodically climbed the minor league ladder, never posting overwhelming numbers but making plus rates of contact throughout his pro career. He opened the 2021 campaign with Triple-A Lehigh Valley and earned his first big league call in June.

Williams tallied 108 MLB plate appearances last year, hitting .245/.315/.316 with one home run and a pair of stolen bases. He made contact on 85% of his swings — around nine points above the league average — but he only managed five extra-base hits. It was a similar story in Lehigh Valley, where he hit .270/.329/.341 without a homer in 143 trips to the dish.

To his credit, Williams suited up all over the diamond for manager Joe Girardi. He started games at each of second base, third base, shortstop, left field and center field last year. Baseball America named him the #17 prospect in the Phillies system this offseason, writing that his combination of defensive aptitude and bat-to-ball skills could make him a decent option off the bench even if his lack of power probably prevents him from emerging as a regular.

The Phils will have a week to trade Williams or place him on waivers. The 25-year-old still has all three minor league option years remaining, so he’d be a flexible multi-positional depth piece for any acquiring team.

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Philadelphia Phillies Transactions Luke Williams

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View Comments (45)

Comments

  1. prov356

    1 year ago

    Great. The Angels should pick him up.

    Reply
  2. Captain Dunsel

    1 year ago

    I thought Luke could Force his way into the lineup.

    Reply
    • Kruk it

      1 year ago

      Future Pirate or a WSox claim

      Reply
  3. JimmyForum

    1 year ago

    I don’t think people realize just how good the Phillies are going to be this year. Easily one of the top three NL teams. My pick to come out of the highly stacked NL East.

    Reply
    • iverbure

      1 year ago

      I don’t think people realize how terrible their defence is going to be, because they’re just fans who build teams on video games. They have 3 guys best suited for a DH role. And about 6 guys that could probably move down the defensive spectrum.

      Reply
      • Captain Dunsel

        1 year ago

        I disagree. Realmuto and Segura provide excellent defense. It’s only 4 other guys to worry about…..

        Reply
      • VonPurpleHayes

        1 year ago

        iverbure I think everyone knows how bad their defense is going to be because we saw it for 3 years. Also Schwarber is actually a better defender than Cutch as insane as that sounds. So while still terrible, the Phillies defense is slightly better than it was last year.

        Reply
        • TheLawAbides

          1 year ago

          This is true and none of the fans,at least on the Phillies reddit, want to admit how terrible Cutch was as a defender. I wonder if Nick Castellanos is a better defender at 3B than Bohm

  4. rennick

    1 year ago

    I didn’t think Williams would be the one to get DFA’d.

    Reply
  5. 13Morgs13

    1 year ago

    He can’t hit. He’s a 5th OFer at best

    Reply
  6. Ojdiddoit

    1 year ago

    The Phillies scored enough runs and played enough defense to win the division going away last year 32 blown saves was the difference. Add nicky,ky and 3 veteran arms all with closer resumes and I’m looking at the Phillies as a world series contender.

    Reply
    • Bill Kane

      1 year ago

      They didn’t score enough last year. Harper carried them for the last half of the year. I agree that the 2 new additions will strengthen the lineup

      Reply
      • Ojdiddoit

        1 year ago

        They were winning 32 times friend ,game in hand,game over,enough runs scored,then BOOM ! Blown save ! Win gone.

        Reply
    • VonPurpleHayes

      1 year ago

      People need to understand that 32 blown saves don’t convert into 32 wins. The Phillies won many of those games or in multiple cases blew more than 1 save in a game. In fact, the Braves blown saves led to more losses than the Phillies’ blown saves did. And the Braves now have one of the best pens in baseball. So while there’s reason to be hopeful, the Phillies are a long way away from Atlanta.

      Reply
      • Ojdiddoit

        1 year ago

        A win in hand my friend,then lost is a blown save.

        Reply
        • VonPurpleHayes

          1 year ago

          Right, but my point is they won a lot of blown save games in 2021. There’s no denying an improved pen will help, but my point is the Braves improved pen matters even more because their 2021 blown saves actually resulted in more losses.

        • VonPurpleHayes

          1 year ago

          A blown save occurs when a relief pitcher enters a game in a save situation, but allows the tying run to score.

          So a blown save is not always loss.

    • Phillls

      1 year ago

      Not necessarily true. The Braves had 27 blown saves. Sure, if the Phillies had won say, 8 of the games they lost due to a blown save they would have had 8 more wins but the same goes for Atlanta. If they had won the same 8 games that their bullpen lost, they still would have finished ahead of the Phillies. It works both ways.

      Reply
  7. nyy17 2

    1 year ago

    Well at least he has wrestling to fall back on https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bushwhackers

    Reply
    • David Kupsick

      1 year ago

      I met these guys in 1990 flying to LA.
      Very approachable

      Reply
  8. DarkSide830

    1 year ago

    really? why Luke?

    Reply
    • John Kruk’s Hair Stylist

      1 year ago

      Nick Maton break out in 3..2..1…

      Reply
      • philliesphan77

        1 year ago

        Maton looked good today. I’d rather see him out there than Bohm. I was surprised by this though. Luke seemed like a good dude

        Reply
        • VonPurpleHayes

          1 year ago

          He did, but Bohm has a significantly higher upside. He hasn’t looked right yet though.

  9. getrealgone2

    1 year ago

    Those violent Sheepherders

    Reply
  10. VonPurpleHayes

    1 year ago

    Williams had one of the coolest moments of the last decade or so with his debut walkoff.

    Reply
    • Pax vobiscum

      1 year ago

      Really for me the best moment of last season.

      Reply
      • DarkSide830

        1 year ago

        I think second to the Miller slam, but it’s close. I was lucky enough to see both and they were both amazing.

        Reply
        • VonPurpleHayes

          1 year ago

          Miller’s was cooler, but Luke’s moment was a better story with his family being there and all.

  11. njbirdsfan

    1 year ago

    At least he’ll spare us the ridiculous walk up song

    Reply
    • phillyballers

      1 year ago

      BIG – Gimme the Loot?

      Reply
    • Phillies2017

      1 year ago

      That’s what I’ll miss the most about him. Always love when some of these young guys have classics like that.

      Reply
  12. Ducey

    1 year ago

    Jays fans like Philly players named Williams.

    Reply
    • Captain Dunsel

      1 year ago

      We don’t talk about M. “Bruno” Williams.

      Reply
    • Joeypower

      1 year ago

      Probably see another Williams this coming October Toronto vs Philly 1993 all over again!

      Reply
  13. splodem

    1 year ago

    I’ll bet anything the Giant will try and get him.

    Reply
  14. 609Collectibles

    1 year ago

    Surprised it was Luke but they have enough guys like him already on the position player side. Side note: Seranthony looked great today.

    Reply
  15. Kevin28786

    1 year ago

    What kind of management looks at their team, sees that the bullpen and defense are horrible, adds more bad defense, and does nothing about the bullpen? Bad management, that’s what kind. Anthopolous is LIGHT YEARS ahead of the failies brass. Light years.

    Reply
    • VonPurpleHayes

      1 year ago

      Knebel, Hand, Familia. They added quite a bit to the bullpen. Those are 3 big additions. And while defense is still a hole, the offense was a big hole as well. That’s been addressed. They didn’t fix everything, but they fixed a lot. I agree about Anthopolous being way ahead of the Phillies, but it’s a completely different situation. The Phillies haven’t developed much significant talent over the last decade or so. They’re stuck in limbo and they were able to buy a decent offense. Not the ideal way to win by any means.

      Reply
      • Phillls

        1 year ago

        The sad part is Knebel, Hand, Familia, and the rest of the bullpen are going to have blown saves. It’s inevitable. The perfect 2008 Lidge season was an anomaly, and probably won’t happen again any time soon. Since then people have the Lidge Syndrome and expect every reliever to save every game every time. When any of the current relievers should dare to blow a save, you can expect the same fans as last year to go ballistic and rant, scream, whine, and cry again…..

        Reply
        • VonPurpleHayes

          1 year ago

          The keys to Lidge’s 2008 success were excellent defense (Sorry 2022 Phils) and some brillant setup men in Romero and Madson. Lidge never had to pitch the 8th. Not once. That’s incredible.

        • TheLawAbides

          1 year ago

          Valverde was a perfect 49/49 in 2011

      • David Kupsick

        1 year ago

        Seranthony Dominguez will help also

        Reply
  16. Gina

    1 year ago

    I disagree. The Phillies have been horrible when it comes to player development for several years now. I think Luke Williams can be a star for a team that will take his talent to the next level. I think this one will be yet ANOTHER decision that will come back to haunt the team.

    Reply
  17. Kruk it

    1 year ago

    I liked Williams,wish him the best

    Reply

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