Mac Williamson has always been one of my favorite prospects to watch – a complete five-tool outfielder, down-to-earth personality, and so much potential.
Williamson was batting .293 and slugging .429 in Double-A before his recent call-up to the Giants Triple-A team and is just five games deep with the Rivercats.
I did an interview with him 2 years ago and thought I would re-surface this given his recent promotion and the Giants desperate need for healthy and capable outfielders.
Here are some excerpts from our interview:
On giving pitching and catching in his early baseball days:
I was a catcher most of my life, I was only a pitcher for a short amount of time and that was cut short by a shoulder injury. I tore my labrum my senior year of high school and had surgery my freshmen year of college.
On whether he misses playing those positions:
I miss pitching because I’m a pretty competitive guy and pitching is 1:1 with the hitter. Every single pitch is competing. And that’s why I like hitting – because you’re competing against the pitcher. I miss catching a little bit but I like the outfield – it allows me to focus a little more on my hitting. And I mean, catching is tough. It’s one of the toughest positions, if not THE toughest position. A lot of people don’t understand all the thinking that happens back there. You’re really controlling the game. I miss it a little bit but I think for right now I’m focusing on making some changes at the plate.
On who he looks up to from the Giants organization:
I met Hunter Pence at Spring Training and I watched him when he played for the Phillies. You kind of get the sense that he’s a weirdo and some of his antics and pre-game routines and pre-at-bat routines are a little bit different and you kind of judge a book by it’s cover. When I met him at spring training, it was only briefly for a few minutes but he’s just the most outgoing, nice guy. He was willing to talk to me, a nobody, a minor leaguer who was up playing for a game. I came over and talked to him for a little bit and he gave me some good advice about playing the game like you have every other game in your life. They’re all the same – you put your clothes on the same way each time. It was really cool to talk to a guy who’s had tremendous success at the highest level and he’s just a run-of-the-mill guy. He’s not arrogant, he doesn’t hold himself to be above anyone else – even though he is .
And finally, here’s a quick fun 7-question video interview I did with him. Ignore me laughing. I kind of forgot I was doing an interview because he’s such an easy guy to get along with.
The Giants are counting on prospects like Williamson to continue the success they’ve had with homegrown players such as Matt Duffy, Joe Panik, and Andrew Susac. While they’ve done well with their “farm-to-table” approach with infielders and pitchers, the missing piece of the equation seems to lie with developing their outfielders (ahem, Gary Brown).
Williamson will be an interesting one to watch in the coming months and might earn himself a spot in the September call-ups if he keeps it up.
