Acquired by the Phillies in the trade that sent Cole Hamels to the Rangers, Nick Williams has been quite a treat to watch over his first weeks in the Phillies organization. That all came to a halt when Williams collided with the first baseman while grounding out to third on August 26th. Williams was placed on the disabled list with a concussion, luckily one that wasn't bad at all.
According to Matt Breen of the Philadelphia Inquirer, Williams is expected to rejoin the playoff-bound Reading Fightin Phils this weekend when the team travels to Richmond.
He ran sprints on Tuesday afternoon and has played catch. Reading manager Dusty Wathan said Williams would likely hit off a batting tee on Wednesday.
“Everything is good,” Williams said. “I’m just waiting for the go-ahead to play.”
The 21-year-old outfielder hit lead-off for Double-A Reading before being sidelined. In 21 games in the Phillies organization, he's hitting .326 with five doubles, two triples, four home runs, 21 runs scored, 10 RBI's and two steals. Over his last 10 games though, he's hitting just .256 (11-for-43) with nine runs scored and 11 strikeouts.
Reading fell to Binghamtom on Tuesday night, 7-6. Fightin Phils closer Stephen Shackleford allowed two runs in the top of the ninth. Since breaking the Reading all-time saves record on August 11th, Shackleford has been shaky at best, allowing 14 earned runs in eight innings. He hasn't earned a save in any of his last five appearances. On the 11th, his ERA stood at 2.56. Today, it stands at 4.61.
Meanwhile, J.P. Crawford had a nice night at the plate, tallying two hits and scoring two runs to raise his Double-A average up to .272. Both Andrew Knapp and Dylan Cozens hit home runs. Knapp, hitting .368 on the year, finished the night going 2-for-5 with a run scored and three RBI's. Cozens has played in five games at the Double-A level so far and is hitting .444 (8-for-18) with three homers and nine RBI's.
