TinCaps outfielder has become 'dangerous'
DYLAN SINN | The Journal Gazette
Dwanya Williams-Sutton is healthy, and that's a problem for the rest of the Midwest League.
The TinCaps' 21-year-old outfielder struggled through injuries to his thumb and wrist in 2017 and 2018, impairing his final two seasons of college baseball at East Carolina and his first partial campaign in the professional ranks after the Padres drafted him in June.
He spent much of the offseason rehabbing after having a cyst removed from his wrist and entered this season at 100%.
His renewed health has paid dividends, as the 6-foot-2, 215-pound Williams-Sutton has emerged as the TinCaps' best hitter.
The fifth-round pick attributed much of his success to being ready to hit when he gets to the plate. He doesn't often let strikes go by without a swing.
“Pretty much just staying aggressive,” Williams-Sutton said of his approach. “(Manager Anthony Contreras) and (hitting coach Jonathan Mathews), they always tell me to stay aggressive, so that's what I've been doing, trying to hit first-pitch fastballs.”
That approach has worked to the tune of a .268 batting average and a .434 OBP, the best on the team by a whopping 37 points, through 16 games.
Williams-Sutton has played in 13 of those games and has gotten on base at least once in all of them, helping him tie for the team lead with 10 runs.
Pitchers have noticed Williams-Sutton's aggressiveness early in counts and have responded by throwing fewer fastballs. That has led him to a strategy that would make some Little League coaches cringe.
“Right now, I'm swinging it well, so a lot of pitches they're throwing me are off-speed,” he said. “So I'm going to the plate sitting off-speed, and I can react to their fastballs.”
Mathews hasn't been surprised by Williams-Sutton's hot start. He mentioned the outfielder's return to health as a factor and suggested that his success has not been a surprise to the Padres organization.
“He's just kind of a really good hitter,” Mathews said. “He's strong. He can drive the ball to all fields. He hit a pull-side homer early in the year (against the Lansing Lugnuts) and then he hits balls into the right-center field gap regularly. When he's on time, he's a dangerous guy.”
Williams-Sutton has been on time often this season and when he is, the ball jumps off his bat, to use a phrase common in scouting circles prior to the analytics revolution in baseball.
Such descriptors have fallen by the wayside somewhat as advanced stats like “exit velocity” – the speed of the ball off the bat – have become more common.
The outfielder shines in the statistics era, as well, however.
In Friday's loss to the West Michigan Whitecaps, Williams-Sutton crushed a pair of balls that left his bat at a blistering 105 mph, including one that went for a two-run single.
The Wilson, North Carolina, native has also had success when he doesn't swing.
As pitchers have begun to pitch around him and throw fewer fastballs in the strike zone, Williams-Sutton has been content to wait for good pitches.
He has walked in nearly 19% of his plate appearances, the best mark on the team, and has cut down his strikeouts from last season.
Now healthy, Williams-Sutton is a complete hitter.
“Staying healthy is my main focus this year,” he said. “So I can help the TinCaps win a championship.”
DYLAN SINN | The Journal Gazette
Dwanya Williams-Sutton is healthy, and that's a problem for the rest of the Midwest League.
The TinCaps' 21-year-old outfielder struggled through injuries to his thumb and wrist in 2017 and 2018, impairing his final two seasons of college baseball at East Carolina and his first partial campaign in the professional ranks after the Padres drafted him in June.
He spent much of the offseason rehabbing after having a cyst removed from his wrist and entered this season at 100%.
His renewed health has paid dividends, as the 6-foot-2, 215-pound Williams-Sutton has emerged as the TinCaps' best hitter.
The fifth-round pick attributed much of his success to being ready to hit when he gets to the plate. He doesn't often let strikes go by without a swing.
“Pretty much just staying aggressive,” Williams-Sutton said of his approach. “(Manager Anthony Contreras) and (hitting coach Jonathan Mathews), they always tell me to stay aggressive, so that's what I've been doing, trying to hit first-pitch fastballs.”
That approach has worked to the tune of a .268 batting average and a .434 OBP, the best on the team by a whopping 37 points, through 16 games.
Williams-Sutton has played in 13 of those games and has gotten on base at least once in all of them, helping him tie for the team lead with 10 runs.
Pitchers have noticed Williams-Sutton's aggressiveness early in counts and have responded by throwing fewer fastballs. That has led him to a strategy that would make some Little League coaches cringe.
“Right now, I'm swinging it well, so a lot of pitches they're throwing me are off-speed,” he said. “So I'm going to the plate sitting off-speed, and I can react to their fastballs.”
Mathews hasn't been surprised by Williams-Sutton's hot start. He mentioned the outfielder's return to health as a factor and suggested that his success has not been a surprise to the Padres organization.
“He's just kind of a really good hitter,” Mathews said. “He's strong. He can drive the ball to all fields. He hit a pull-side homer early in the year (against the Lansing Lugnuts) and then he hits balls into the right-center field gap regularly. When he's on time, he's a dangerous guy.”
Williams-Sutton has been on time often this season and when he is, the ball jumps off his bat, to use a phrase common in scouting circles prior to the analytics revolution in baseball.
Such descriptors have fallen by the wayside somewhat as advanced stats like “exit velocity” – the speed of the ball off the bat – have become more common.
The outfielder shines in the statistics era, as well, however.
In Friday's loss to the West Michigan Whitecaps, Williams-Sutton crushed a pair of balls that left his bat at a blistering 105 mph, including one that went for a two-run single.
The Wilson, North Carolina, native has also had success when he doesn't swing.
As pitchers have begun to pitch around him and throw fewer fastballs in the strike zone, Williams-Sutton has been content to wait for good pitches.
He has walked in nearly 19% of his plate appearances, the best mark on the team, and has cut down his strikeouts from last season.
Now healthy, Williams-Sutton is a complete hitter.
“Staying healthy is my main focus this year,” he said. “So I can help the TinCaps win a championship.”
