Padres third base coach Matt Williams will step away from the team for an undetermined amount of time following tomorrow’s Opening Day festivities. Skipper Bob Melvin informed reporters (including Alden González of ESPN) on Wednesday that Williams was recently diagnosed with colon cancer. He’ll undergo surgery to address the issue on Friday.
Williams said he was first made aware of the issue a few weeks ago after a standard physical turned up a low red blood cell count. Fortunately, the 57-year-old indicated he’s feeling well physically. “I don’t have any symptoms, I don’t have any issues,” Williams told reporters. “At this point it’s important now to get it out of there. That’s the plan for Friday, and we’ll see how it goes from there. They’ll test, and they’ll do all the pathology and all of that at that point. But the initial scans were positive in that on the initial CT scan they didn’t see any spread anywhere else. That’s a good thing. We’ll see where it goes from there.”
A five-time All-Star during his playing days, Williams has spent the better part of the last decade in the coaching ranks. He managed for the Nationals for two seasons in 2014-15, securing the NL’s Manager of the Year award in his first campaign. Williams later spent time on the A’s coaching staff and followed Melvin to San Diego over the 2021-22 offseason. He’s headed into his second season with the Friars.
Former Cardinals’ manager and current senior advisor Mike Shildt will take over third base coaching duties on an interim basis. MLBTR sends our best wishes to Williams and his family on his recovery.
Sounds like they might have caught it early. High cure rate if so.
Yep. Get your colonoscopy starting at age 45 folks. I was stage 2 at age 49. Doc said the mass was growing for over 5 years.
Literally in waiting room now before my annual. Early detection is key.
Get your colonoscopy folks. I was stage 2 at age 49. Doc said it was growing for over 5 years.
Wishing you a healthy and speedy recovery Mr. Williams. Godspeed.
Fight the good fight, MW!!!
HG. Couldn’t agree more! Fight Sir, fight!!
Godspeed!
Godspeed and quick recovery Matt. And dudes if you’re 45+ and haven’t had a colonoscopy yet to check for pre-cancerous problem areas, think about scheduling one. Catching colon cancer earlier the better.
Strength and comfort for Matt Williams.
Colon cancer killed my father, who unfortunately didn’t stay on top of colonoscopies due to a long run of good health. He felt great until the day some symptoms popped up, and when he was diagnosed with stage IV colon cancer we knew the odds were against him. I’m glad that it sounds as if they caught the cancer in Williams before it advanced to a tougher-to-treat stage.
Everyone, get your colonoscopies regularly and as recommended. If you have no real family history, still consider one as young as age 45 given the significant rise in instances of advanced colon cancer in people of younger ages. And if you have a family history, don’t wait – the advice is to get your first one at age 35 and then to get one every 5 years, in that case. It’s a minor inconvenience with a gigantic payout if anything is found!
Man. That’s eerily similar to my situation with my father. I’m happy this was caught soon before it’s too late.
Fight the fight Matt, our thoughts and prayers are with you
Godspeed prayers!!!
Best wishes Matt! Sounds like you caught it early enough to prevent it from spreading, which is super important. Hoping they can get all of it out with surgery and that you have a speedy and full recovery!
Would’ve broke the HR record in ’94 if not for the strike.
Get well soon!
My aunt died of it and simply never got it checked up on and if she had regular check up’s, they think they’d have caught it early enough to save her.
Everybody get checked. Rates are going up in people as young as late 20’s.
I think everybody 30 and up should get an annual one, even if it seems a bit early. It’s never too early.
Get well soon, Matty!
I hate to mention this, but I hope his steroid use didn’t have anything to do with this. I know how common it is in men, and I support the comments here to get tested regularly, everyone, and I hope for the best for Matt.
While I agree getting checked is important there’s a lot we can do regarding prevention.
A 2022 review of 49 studies including more than 3 million people found that plant-based diets were protective against all digestive system cancers, including colon cancer. The more plant food you eat the lower the risk. Eat your veggies.
My wife got a stage 4 diagnosis a year ago at age 46. She’s fighting the good fight, but the treatment is TOUGH. We’re hoping for better days soon, but it’s definitely a lesson for all of us to get checked annually, whether via colonoscopy or the stool scrape. Above all, listen to your body. Many times, there won’t be symptoms, but often, there are. Pay attention!
Best of luck to Matt Williams at beating this cancer! Our thoughts are with you.