Justin Williams

Despite performing well at Triple-A in an injury-plagued season, Williams appears stranded near the bottom of the Cardinals' depth chart. A series of injuries limited him to just 53 games in the upper minors. In the 36 of those games that came at the Triple-A level, he looked excellent, hitting .353/.437/.608, a significant step forward from the .252/.307/.379 line he managed at the same level the season prior. Williams isn't a great defender, even in left field, so he'll have to hit quite a lot if he's to have a future role as an everyday player in the major leagues. Last season's small-sample success offers some hope, though with the juiced ball at Triple-A and a .439 BABIP propping up that production, it may have been a false positive. He has plus raw power and posted a 13.4 BB% with Memphis, but his realistic ceiling on this contending team with plenty of outfield depth is a power bat off the bench.

Williams, who was the second youngest hitter in the Southern League, finished fourth in the league in batting average (.301), third in OPS (.853), fourth in ISO (.189) and fourth in wRC+ (145). The hitters he trailed in those categories were all several years older. He is likely to split time between an outfield corner and DH, which may preclude him from making any real-life lists this offseason, but he should definitely be on the radar in dynasty leagues. The most impressive aspect of his season was that he made massive improvements to his approach (69:37 K:BB) while maintaining his power gains from 2016. One complaint from scouts is that he sometimes needs to be told to swing harder, because he has plus raw power that he still doesn't get to enough. However, he won't turn 23 until late August and if that's the only gripe about his offensive game, he is ahead of schedule. With no significant splits, he has a chance to secure an everyday job in 2019, even with his defensive limitations.

Williams split his time between High-A Charlotte and Double-A Montgomery and put together a solid campaign, slashing a combined .295/.318/.447 over 342 at-bats. The biggest concern with respect to the 21-year-old is the fact that he's still struggling to make good on his power potential, as his total of 10 homers last season represent his professional high-water mark in that category. However, he's proven to be an above-average hitter overall and provided a respectable 30 extra-base hits last season while also driving in 59 runs. He's likely to get a full season at Double-A in 2017 to continue his seasoning, and perhaps finally see a breakout in the home-run department. Currently, he still represents a decent value for dynasty purposes, but his ability to take his fantasy production to the next level remains firmly in question.

The centerpiece of the Rays’ return in the 2014 Jeremy Hellickson trade with Arizona, Williams has still not lived up to his potential as a power-hitting corner outfield prospect. He is still just 20 years old, so it is too early to write him off, but he has just 12 home runs in 969 professional at-bats in the lower levels of the minor leagues. This is disappointing for someone whose calling card is supposed to be plus raw power. On the bright side, his hit tool may be slightly better than advertised, as he hit .277 in 470 at-bats across Low-A and High-A last year without posting an unusually high BABIP at either stop, but he also had just 14 walks, which kept his OBP just below .300. One would assume that strikeouts might be a bit of an issue, but he actually had K-rates below 19 percent at both levels. It will be crucial for Williams’ power to start showing up more in games this year.

Selected in the second round of the 2013 draft, Williams was considered to be a raw, athletic prospect. The 18-year-old hit .351 in low levels of the minors last year. While he didn't show any of it last season, he is expected to have above average power. His long-term position has not been nailed down, although he currently profiles as an outfielder. Williams needs quite a bit of seasoning before becoming a threat to make the major league roster, but the D-Backs gave him a three-game taste of the Midwest League last summer, and he may begin 2014 as one of the younger players at Low-A South Bend if the organization feels he's ready for full-season ball.