Blue Jays Nation’s Pre-Season Prospect Countdown – No. 38: Peyton Williams

Photo credit:Dunedin Blue Jays

5 months ago

Who doesn’t love slugging first basemen?

This is Blue Jays Nation’s annual pre-season list, in which I’ll take a look at the top 50 prospects in the organization. We’ll look at the player’s stats, my observations, and other publications’ scouting reports if available.

Let’s take a look at Peyton Williams

Getting to know Peyton Williams…

Position: First base

Bats: Left

Born: September 14, 2000

Acquired: 7th-round, 2022 draft

2023 Team: High-A Vancouver

Previous Ranking: 36

The 6’5”, 225 lb first baseman was an interesting draft selection in the 2022 draft. With the University of Iowa, he slashed .317/.455/.593 with 21 homers in 492 plate appearances, along with a 15.6 BB% and a 16.9 K%, pretty interesting numbers for his position.

Williams spent his first half-season with the Single-A Dunedin Blue Jays, where he slashed .242/.382/.333 with two homers in 123 plate appearances, along with a 17.1 BB% and 26.8 K%. He helped the D-Jays push for a title in the Florida State League that season.

The first baseman repeated the level to start 2023, slashing .274/.370/.476 with seven homers in 192 plate appearances, along with a 10.9 BB% and a 21.4 K% for a 129 wRC+. He was called up to the High-A Vancouver Canadians in the middle of the season, where he slashed .240/.327/.434 with seven homers in 147 plate appearances. His K% sat at 25.2% while he had an 8.8 BB% for a 104 wRC+.

What immediately sticks out about Williams is the power he possesses. Although he didn’t hit many home runs in college, his 14 home runs in 2023 ranked seventh in the organization. On top of the home run totals, he has impressive exit velocities as they averaged 90.3 mph and had a max exit velocity of 110.8 mph.

The hit tool isn’t too far behind either. While he won’t ever hit .300 like he did in University, but he could hit in the vicinity of .250 or .260 every season. Not just that, but he has a terrific eye at the plate which will surely give him an above-average on base percentage.

Where Williams struggles is defensively. The 23-year-old is a below-average defender and may eventually move off the position to be a designated hitter. He’s also a slow runner.

Still, William’s bat is incredibly intriguing as he produces high exit velocities and knows how to get on base. It’ll be interesting to see how he does in the upper-minors.