San Francisco Giants: Is There Hope with Mac Williamson?

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Jul 23, 2016; Bronx, NY, USA; San Francisco Giants right fielder Mac Williamson (51) hits a single against the New York Yankees in the first inning at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Noah K. Murray-USA TODAY Sports /

A Closer Look at Mac Williamson

I went back and watched some games of Williamson from last year to see if maybe there is something I’m missing.

He’s an imposing player in the batter’s box at 6-foot-4, 240 pounds. Williamson starts with his knees bent and a bit of an open stance, but he’s able to step straight towards the pitcher when he swings.

His swings creates kind of a diving effect, which allows him to generate a lot of power on pitches down-and-in. That rings true according to FanGraphs as it shows his contact rate is much higher on pitches down-and-in.

However, as a result of that diving-type swing, he’s obviously vulnerable to pitches on the outer half of the plate. Part of that is because his hips fly open way too early and he’s not able to adjust to pitches away from him. If he can learn to keep his weight back a tick longer it might help him reach some of those pitches on the outside, or at least foul them off.

Being so tall, his swing is naturally kind of long, but he should also have good reach on the outside if he can wait back. That kind of reminds me of Brandon Belt who is also tall, but has learned to wait back and foul off those tough pitches away – him being a left-handed hitter obviously. That’s what has helped Belt’s on-base-percentage shoot up the past two years.

The reason I think Giants fans love this guy so much is because of the power potential he brings with his bat, which is backed up by his minor league numbers.