Glendale, Arizona —— Entering play on Monday night, Milwaukee Brewers right-handed pitching prospect Chase Williams is 0-1 with a 2.00 ERA in six games (two starts) for the Arizona League‘s Arizona League Brewers, with nine strikeouts against nine hits and three walks in 9.0 innings pitched in 2017. I observed the 24-year-old Wichita State University product in an August 10 relief outing against the AZL White Sox; below is Baseball Census‘ full Chase Williams scouting report, including video.
Chase Williams Scouting Report — Video
Our video of Milwaukee Brewers right-handed pitching prospect Chase Williams shows every pitch he threw in that August 10, 2017 relief outing against the AZL White Sox, where he struck out two and allowed one earned run in 1.1 innings pitched:
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Chase Williams Scouting Report — Notes
Too old for the Arizona League at 24, Chase Williams spent the majority of 2016—his first year in pro ball—on the disabled list, and he’s started off the 2017 season late, too, rehabbing an injury despite being listed on the active AZL roster. He’s too advanced for this level right now, too, with a fastball that sits 93-95 mph with easy, late explosion at the plate. At 6’6″ with a high three-quarters release, Williams gets great downward plane on his fastball, and that late explosion gives him a legitimate power pitch to challenge hitters. Chase Williams couples the fastball with a very, very hard (89-90 mph) slider that looks like a cut fastball out of his hand, only to produce surprising, consistent downward break and tilt at the plate. The slider looks to be a legitimate wipeout pitch for Williams, who one would imagine will be ticketed for a high-leverage, back-end bullpen role whenever he’s farmed out to a full-season league this year or next.
Late-inning, high-leverage short relievers can move relatively quickly if they flash plus arm strength and good, consistent breaking stuff, and Williams possesses both of those things along with a bulldog mentality to challenge hitters. His fastball will flatten up in the zone, and when hovering around or just under 95 mph that’ll be a command concern, but when the Milwaukee Brewers righty is living at the knees his pitch life is phenomenal. It’s doubly a testament to his arm strength that he’s able to throw such a hard slider without it becoming too much of a cut fastball; tome, the power slider is a sign that he’ll build out even more velocity in the next year or two. Before we get there, though, it’s imperative the Brewers get Chase Williams out of rehab and into a full-season league as is warranted; at 24 years old, he must prove himself against age-appropriate hitters, because his raw stuff is good enough to compete several levels higher than this. From there, assuming good fortune and continued good health after nearly a full year lost to injury, Chase Williams may yet turn into a quick-moving reliever over the next year or two if all goes according to plan.
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