Top Prospect Jett Williams’ Career Taking Off Towards New York Mets

New York Mets fans, annoyed for decades by jet planes flying over their home ballpark, ironically cannot wait for Jett Williams to land there.

Williams, 21, can play shortstop, second base and center field and has exciting offensive skills. All that would be much more welcome than the screeching of jets taking off or landing at nearby LaGuardia Airport.

The tiny Texan is no Jumbo Jet, standing only 5-foot-7 and weighing 175 pounds. But he puts surprising flight into a pitched baseball with a quick, right-handed swing. He’s currently hitting .282 with 10 homers, 67 runs and 29 stolen bases this year for the Binghamton Rumble Ponies of the Class AA Eastern League.

WEST PALM BEACH, FL: Jett Williams of the New York Mets warms up during a spring training game at The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches. (Photo by Nick Cammett/Diamond Images via Getty Images)

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“He’s electric,” Binghamton manager Reid Brignac told SNY.tv during a dugout interview posted on X.

The Mets organization thought that when they made Williams the 14th overall choice in the 2022 MLB Draft and gave him a $3.9 million signing bonus. Three shortstops chosen ahead of him are regulars in MLB ball. Jackson Holliday, the No. 1 pick, is the Baltimore Orioles’ second baseman, No. 8 Brooks Lee plays short, third and second for the Minnesota Twins and No. 13 Zach Neto has already played 335 MLB games as the Los Angeles Angels’ shortstop.

Williams is best suited for short, but with all-star Francisco Lindor still having five years left on his 10-year, $341 million contract, this Jett likely will be diverted elsewhere.

In 15 games this season at second base, Williams has made only one error in 60 chances with a 3.96 range factor. Though only a tiny sample size, that mark compares close to career rates at second for Gleyber Torres (3.92) of the New York Yankees and Brandon Lowe (3.98) of the Tampa Bay Rays. Jose Altuve, the 5-foot-6 star of the Houston Astros, has a career range factor of 4.00.

Encountering Turbulence

Williams’ first full season in the minors was successful as he had 45 stolen bases and drew a whopping 104 walks at age 19 across three lower levels. Overall, he hit .263 with 13 homers, 22 doubles, 81 runs and 55 RBI in 121 games.

The Jett was grounded much of 2024 with a bad wing – specifically a right wrist injury that needed surgery and sidelined him a couple months. He hit only .215 with no homers in 33 games. He went to the Arizona Fall League and hit .225 in 22 games, swiping seven bases in eight tries.

He was hit in the hand by a pitch during spring training this past February but missed little time. In June, he was hit in the helmet by a pitch. He left the game and was back in the lineup two days later – going 2-for-4 with two RBI and a walk. That started him on an 11-game streak in which he batted .383 (18 for 47).

Short Shorts

Not all good ballplayers are as tall as sluggers Aaron Judge, Mark McGwire or Frank Howard. Guys shorter than Williams have done quite well, such as Hall of Famers Willie Keeler, Rabbit Maranville, Billy Hamilton, Hack Wilson, Phil Rizzuto and Joe Morgan.

All of them except the 5-6 Wilson had similar skills. Wilson was built like a fire hydrant at 190 pounds and produced huge power. He was not fast and a poor fielder.

Over a five-year span, 1926-30, for the Chicago Cubs, he averaged 35 homers, 142 RBI and .331 with a 1.031 OPS. At age 30, he had a season for the ages in 1930, driving in a MLB-record 191 runs with 56 homers with 146 runs and a .356 average.

The other five all hit and fielded well with speed to burn. Hamilton batted .344 with 914 stolen bases; Keeler hit .341 with 495 steals; Morgan had 689 steals and more homers than Wilson at 268. Rizzuto and Maranville were exceptional fielding shortstops and fine leadoff batters.

Altuve appears headed for enshrinement in Cooperstown at age 35 with 640 steals, 248 homers, three batting titles and a .305 career average.

Jett Williams’ Future

He has the skills to succeed. Where those skills best fit into the Mets’ lineup is the big question. For now, he is assuredly blocked at shortstop by Lindor. Former center fielder Brandon Nimmo, moved to left, still has five years left on his eight-year, $162 million contract. He moved over this year with Tyrone Taylor playing center.

Taylor has hit only .200 with 19 RBI in 100 games. He’s a .234 career hitter. The Mets brought in Cedric Mullins from the Baltimore Orioles at the trading deadline. He’s age 30, a free agent at the end of the season, and still a tremendous defensive player.

Unless Mullins regains a semblance of the form he had in 2021 when he hit .291 with 30 homers and 30 steals, the Mets probably won’t make him an offer to return.

That means there should be an opening in center. Williams could be in a spring-training battle for the role with natural center fielder Carson Benge. He is No.4 on MLB Pipeline’s list of Mets prospects and hitting .336 as Williams’ teammate at Binghamton at age 22. Benge, Williams and pitcher Jonah Tong have helped the Rumble Ponies to a 70-33 record this year.

Veteran Jeff McNeil and young Luisangel Acuna have shared second-base duties in New York. McNeil, 33, has battled injuries. The two-time all-star signed a four-year, $50 million contract before the 2023 season after he won the 2022 NL batting title at .326.

Acuna, younger brother of Atlanta Braves star outfielder Ronald Acuna, has played good defense at second. The 23-year-old is 12-for-13 in steal attempts but has no homers and only 7 RBI in 175 at-bats. In 520 games in the minors, he hit .281 with 41 homers and was forecast to grow into an MLB star. It has yet to happen.

Williams has similar skills. Scouts believe he could develop some more power; remember, they forecast that for Acuna, too. That’s Luisangel, not slugger Ronald.

The best way for Williams to find a home with the New York Mets is to build one himself. If he continues to develop, he will force the issue. He will likely get a chance to challenge for a job next spring. It’s up to him to clear the runway.