Could Nick Williams be sent to Triple-A Lehigh Valley? (Brandon Apter/SportsTalkPhilly)
By Tim Kelly, Sports Talk Philly editor 
It's only been one month, but Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Nick Williams has had a less-than-ideal start to what was expected to be his first full season in the major leagues. With four-starting caliber outfielders, Williams has found himself as the odd-man-out, with Aaron Altherr getting a bulk of the team's starts in right field. He joked (and later apologized) early in the season that "computers were making the lineup" when asked why he wasn't starting regularly. When he has played though, Williams has struggled – he entered Tuesday hitting under .200 with just one home run, which came in a pinch-hit appearance.
Given the start that Williams has had to his first full major league season, it's caused some to wonder if 2018 will be a full major league season for the 24-year-old.
Matt Gelb of The Athletic noted that Roman Quinn started in right field for the Triple-A Lehigh Valley IronPigs Tuesday for the second consecutive night, after not starting there the entire season. According to MLB.com's Todd Zolecki, the Phillies don't have imminent plans to option Williams to Triple-A in favor of Quinn, but it is a possibility that is on their radar:
Triple-A outfielder Roman Quinn started his first game in right field on Monday. He had started every previous game in center. Do not read too much into that, only because the Phillies make a point to play players at multiple positions.
But one source said the idea that the Phillies could swap Quinn for Williams is a consideration. The Phillies are not there yet. The Phillies likely want the situation to settle itself naturally. If Altherr struggles again or if Williams heats up, the Phillies could put Williams back in the lineup more frequently.
This may be an interesting time to get a look at Quinn, who posted a 0.3 fWAR and stole five bases in 15 games for the Phillies in 2016. First of all, the soon-to-be 25-year-old is healthy now, which unfortunately hasn't often been the case throughout the course of his professional career. Secondly, unlike the left-handed Williams, Quinn is capable of also playing shortstop, a spot that the Phillies tried him out at this Spring Training. Drafted as a shortstop, Quinn's range at shortstop appeared strong in Spring Training, though it obviously is an adjustment moving from throwing from the outfield to from shortstop. He is yet to play there at Triple-A. In any event, he has some experience at shortstop, and with J.P. Crawford currently on the disabled list, he could theoretically get some reps there.
As much as this may be an opportune time for Quinn to be at the major league level, it's unclear what would be accomplished by sending Williams to Triple-A. Even if he receives more at-bats at Triple-A, the end goal would still be him to get back to the major league level. With four starting-caliber outfielders (five if you include Scott Kingery), at least one player that would start on most teams will end up on the bench every game. The Phillies knew that when they signed Carlos Santana, a move that pushed Rhys Hoskins to left field.
Does that mean the Phillies shouldn't have signed Santana? Not necessarily. But in doing so, it meant that one young outfielder wasn't going to start regularly. Hoskins is going to play every day in left field, he's the team's best hitter. Odubel Herrera has had a scorching-hot start to the 2018 season at the plate, and has graded out as one of the best fielding center fielders since the start of the 2015 season. So that leaves one spot for Williams, Altherr and occasionally Kingery to play at. The Phillies could send Williams to Triple-A, but it wouldn't create playing time for him when he does ultimately return to the major league level.
As Zolecki noted, the best plan for the Phillies appears to be waiting things out. Altherr is four for his last 12, but he had a poor month of April and has a history of getting injured. Herrera, for as hot as he's started, has the tendency to go ice-cold relatively quickly. At-bats will come for Williams, just maybe not as frequently as he's accustomed to.
Perhaps what the start of this season has shown is that Matt Klentak's front-office isn't as high on Williams as some fans are. Remember, it was Klentak's predecessor, Ruben Amaro Jr., who traded for Williams as part of the July 2015 Cole Hamels trade. Williams has never graded out well as a fielder, and hasn't traditionally walked frequently, something that is valued by the current regime. Most preseason projections suggested that the .288/.338/.473 slash-line that Williams posted in his first 313 big league at-bats in 2017 wasn't one that he was likely to be able to duplicate. So far, that's been the case.
