Williams makes another grand stand in a pinch
PHILADELPHIA » So Nick Williams has gotten the hang of this pinch-hitting thing, even if it’s not something he’s going to brag about, and certainly not something upon which he’d like to earn a reputation.
“I’m not thinking about that,” Williams said with a nervous laugh.
But he was thinking nice thoughts as he strolled to the plate in the eighth inning Saturday, nice easy thoughts about taking this latest one-mighty-stand of an assignment as it comes.
“I’m just slowing it down when I do pinch-hit,” Williams said. “Being a simple person. I don’t really think about it much.”
Williams simply came through again, belting an 0-1 fastball from Toronto reliever Joe Biagini into the left-centerfield seats to boost the Phillies to a 2-1 victory and help another outstanding pitching performance by Aaron Nola turn into a win.
“Honestly, I’ve been doing a really good job of just closing my eyes and swinging,” Williams joked about his pinch-hitting approach, which he’s honed to a 9-for-19 clip with three guest-appearance homers this season. “It feels great, you know, to be able to help the team in this way. I don’t know, it’s crazy to even think about the success I’ve had.”
It also seems a little off that the Phillies, team rag-tag of the NL East the past three seasons, are now in first place in the division. It’s the latest they’ve led the East during a season since 2011.
With the bevy of prospects acquired during their lengthy rebuild jelling together, and some creative use of personnel by new manager Gabe Kapler, it’s undeniable that there’s a new buzz going around the clubhouse.
And it’s not just the new sound system doing that.
“It’s going to feel great,” Williams said of being on top. “You know it’s early, but I think it’s well earned, you know? We’ve got a great group of guys. Young guys, hungry. These guys love winning. It’s addicting.”
Though Williams wishes he had a more regular role — he’s been in 43 games but only has 94 at-bats, hitting .234 but with a .712 OPS — he admits he’s found a way to take advantage of the frequent pinch-hitting opportunities that Kapler has offered both him and frequent alternate outfielder Aaron Altherr.
“I was just looking for something up, something to drive, something to hit hard,” said Williams, who came on to start the bottom of the eighth in a 1-1 tie between the teams. “Especially in that situation. I was trying to get something going.”
The urgency might have been compounded by the inspiring performance of Nola, who through a rain delay still had entered the seventh inning not having allowed a hit and had faced just one batter above the minimum. A few tight pitch calls and certainly a bit of fatigue resulted in two walks and a pitch count elevated well past 100 when Nola finally was had by a bouncing two-out single to left by Russell Martin that tied the game.
Nola would not figure into the despite a 113-pitch masterpiece.
But somebody could ensure that his outing wouldn’t be for naught. Enter Mr. PinchHitter. Well ... you know who he is. “He thrives because he gets at pitches in the zone,” Kapler said of Williams. “As a pinch-hitter, I experienced that myself because its 0-2 in a blink of an eye. So you have to be prepared to attack early and often. You have to have bat speed, which he has plenty of. It’s great for a pinch-hitter.
“We always say, ‘Who can hit us a home run?’ The answer we’ve had all year long is Aaron or Nick on the bench. One of those guys could come up and hit you a big home run. And you look for that moment and Nick has been delivering, delivering, delivering.”
At the right times. decision