Seth Stohs

Chris Williams grew up in Southern California. Following high school, he spent a year at a junior college before heading across the country to play in South Carolina at a big-time Division 1 school. He played first base and third base. In 2017, he was the Tigers’ catcher. This spring, the team need was for him at first base, and that is the position that he has played for the Elizabethton Twins. Thank you to Chris Williams for taking time to respond to our questions. Please feel free to discuss and ask more questions in our comment section below. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Seth Stohs (SS): Growing up in Southern California, who was your favorite team to follow? Who were some of your favorite players? Chris Williams (CW): My favorite team was the Angels. I went to countless games growing up and have memories since I was a little kid watching the Angels play. Growing up my favorite Angel players were Garret Anderson and Vladimir Guerrero. SS: What were some of the better memories of your high school baseball career? Did you play other sports or were you involved in other activities? CW: When i look back at high school and think of the times I had the most fun and enjoyed baseball, it was when i was playing high school baseball with some of my best friends and not taking baseball too seriously at a level that is meant to be both competitive but fun. It was fun having all my friends in the stands and hanging out with them after the games. SS: What were a couple of your highlights from your three college years at Clemson? CW: It’s not my highlight, but a highlight that always sticks out to me is winning the ACC Championship in 2016. That was one of the the coolest moments of my baseball career and is something I will never forget. Also, hitting a home run in our regional. Our fans did a great job of supporting us, and it was an amazing feeling to hit a home run in that environment. SS: What was the recruitment process like for you out of high school, and was there any question that you wanted to go to Clemson? CW: I actually didn’t have any D1 offers out of high school. I went to a junior college in Huntington Beach, California, named Golden West College for a year. After my freshman year, I decided to leave and pursue going to a four-year, D1 college. It was a lot of luck and being in the right place at the right time because I really didn’t have Clemson in my mind for a school I wanted to go to. I mean I just didn’t think that was an opportunity. However, Clemson gave me a call and asked if I was interested in leaving California and going to South Carolina to play baseball. All I can remember was being dumbfounded and thinking, What does South Carolina even look like? I had never left home for more than three weeks. But I took a leap of faith, and it was the best three years of my life. SS: Did you have the chance to speak with many scouts before the draft? What was your interaction with the Twins scout? CW: I spoke with a few, but I was getting ready for a regional and didn’t want to concern myself too much with the draft. So I let my agent handle most of the calls. The scout that drafted me was Matt Williams, and I only spoke briefly with him. He has been a great help with this whole transition, and I am grateful for the opportunity. SS: The Twins took you in the eighth round. How did you find out that you had been drafted? How busy was your phone at that moment? CW: I was out eating lunch with my dad and some of my best friends when I started getting a lot of calls from different teams asking if this amount was OK and stuff like that. I thought I was going to get picked by another team when the Twins called and said they had taken me in the eighth round. It was a great feeling to have my name called and to have some of my best friends and my dad right there to celebrate with me. SS: What has the adjustment been like for you so far, from the college game to the professional game, both on and off the field? CW: I mean, immediately, playing every day has been an adjustment. In college, you only played four games a week, plus a mandatory day off. Also, you can take it easy at practice before a big weekend. Here, you play games every day, and you can’t check out mentally because every at-bat matters. You don’t want to throw at-bats away. Also, everyone is good at this level. Every at bat is a battle and the game is slightly faster. SS: You have put up strong power numbers in Elizabethton. Are you at all surprised to have experienced such success already, and what do you think has been the biggest reason for the success? CW: I’m definitely a little pleasantly surprised because I didn’t really have any expectations for this summer. I was just excited to get my feet wet and told myself to focus on the process because this is all going to be a brand new transition and I didn’t want to get overwhelmed. However, I trusted that my experiences in college would get me ready for my future in professional baseball and so far I feel like it has. SS: At this very early stage in your career, what would you say are your biggest strengths? CW: We play cards everyday, and I’m really good at 13. Best player in the clubhouse. SS: What are the areas of your game that you would like to spend time working to improve? CW: : My arm. I’m still coming back from shoulder surgery and it is definitely something I need to improve upon. SS: What do you have planned for the offseason? What was your major in school? CW: I plan on going back to Clemson this offseason and train there. They have great facilities where I can work out and train for the next season. In college, I was a business management major. Don’t ask me “”What do you plan on doing with it?” because I still have no clue. SS: Who are some of the people who have helped you get to this point in your career? CW: Two people who have helped me tremendously are my dad and my head coach at Clemson, Monte Lee. The reason I even had the opportunity to go to Clemson and pursue a professional career is because of my dad. He raised me to work hard and be humble in the process. I’ve had to work hard for everything I’ve achieved and I wouldn’t be that way without my dad. Coach Lee has been a huge role model for me the past three years. His passion and determination are unmatched, and it was a pleasure to play under him. He’s an outstanding coach but a better teacher. He made sure his players left Clemson ready for the real world. I believe most players were ready, and it was thanks to him. SS: Favorite baseball movie? CW: Bull Durham and Everybody Wants Some Again, a big Thank You to Chris Williams for taking time to answer our questions here. Williams and the Elizabethton Twins travel to Burlington, North Carolina, for their next series.

Keep reading to find out more on the night in the Twins minor league system on Friday. As always, please feel free to discuss and ask questions. TRANSACTIONS Fernando Romero was optioned by the Twins on Sunday, before the All- Star Game. On Friday, they announced that infielder Taylor Motter will take his spot on the roster. Miguel Sano has returned from the Dominican Republic and has been moved up to Rochester to continue his work. Ryan Eades was placed on the Chattanooga disabled list. LHP Bryan Sammons was promoted from Cedar Rapids to Ft. Myers. RHP Derek Molina was promoted from Elizabethton to Cedar Rapids. RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 2, Norfolk 7 Box Score Ervin Santana is getting close. Dan Hayes noted that the plan for this start was for him to work six innings or 90 pitches. Well, the right-hander went six innings and only needed 66 pitches. He gave up just one run on two hits. One of the hits was a solo home off the bat of Mike Yastrzemski. He walked three and struck out one. Luke Bard came on and was able to record just two outs. He was charged with five runs on four hits, a walk and a hit batter. He did strike out one. Jake Reed came on and gave up one run on three hits over the final 2 1/3 innings. Juan Graterol led the offense. He went 3-for-4 with his third Red Wings double. Gregorio Petit went 1-for-2 and walked three times. Alex Perez came into the game having gone 0-for-4 over his first two Red Wings games. In this one, he went 3-for-5. Edgar Corcino added his second Rochester home run. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga 9, Mobile 2 Box Score When you look at the final score, it might be hard to believe that this was a 3-2 ball game entering the eighth inning. The Lookouts responded with a six-run eighth inning to make it a laugher. Zander Wiel led the way. He got the Lookouts going with his fifth home run of the year. The next batter, Brent Rooker, followed with his 17th home run of the season. Wiel had the big blow of the eighth inning too as he knocked a grand slam to put the game out of reach. It was his sixth homer of the year and gave him five RBIs in this game. Brian Navarreto had the big hit in the eighth frame. His two-run double gave the Lookouts a 5-2 lead before the grand slam. Paco Rodriguez, a reliever, made his second start of the week. He worked a scoreless first inning. Sean Poppen then came in and gave up just one run over the next 5 1/3 innings. He gave up six hits, walked one and struck out four. Todd Van Steensel came on and recorded just one out. He walked two batters. Of his 14 pitches, just three of them were strikes. Williams Ramirez came on and allowed two of three inherited runners to score before getting the final out. Ryne Harper came on and threw two zeroes on the board. Wiel continues his impressive, breakout season. He went 2-for-5 with his fifth and sixth homers and five RBI. Brent Rooker went 1-for-3 with two walks and his 17th home run. Mitchell Kranson went 2-for-4 with a walk and his third and fourth Lookout doubles. Jordan Gore went 1-for-2 with two walks. MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers 11, Lakeland 6 Box Score The Miracle fell behind 4-0 after three innings,but a seven-run fourth was followed with a four-run fifth, and the Miracle came away with a nice win. Of course, the Twins top three prospects were very much involved in this game. Fair to say that Royce Lewis and Alex Kirilloff have adjusted well to the Florida State League and on this night both contributed mightily. Brusdar Graterol started and gave up four runs in the first three innings, but he gave up only those four runs over his six innings on the night. He gave up five hits, walked three and struck out seven. Colton Davis gave up an unearned run in his two innings, and Alex Robinson finished the ninth by giving up a run on a couple of hits. Having already scored four in their half of the fourth inning, a new pitcher was brought in and Royce Lewis greeted him with his first Miracle home run, a three-run shot. In the following inning, Lewis’s two-run single was the big hit. Lewis went 2-for-5 in the game with the home run and five RBIs. https://twitter.com/MattLessig/status/1020462492789637121 Alex Kirilloff went 2-for-5 with his seventh and eighth doubles with the Miracle. Taylor Grzelakowski was 3-for-5 with his 15th double. Ben Rortvedt went 2-for-4 with a walk and drove in two runs. Here’s another view of the Lewis home run… https://twitter.com/teejbaseball/status/1020464129814007808 KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 1, Great Lakes 0 Box Score Bailey Ober has been almost unhittable of late. The tall right-hander had another terrific, dominant start on Friday night. He threw eight scoreless innings. He gave up four hits, walked one and struck out 12. Over his past three starts, he has gone a combined 21 2/3 innings and struck out 34 while walking just two batters. He’s also given up just one run over that time. Ricky Ramirez came on for the final inning. He recorded his first Kernels save by striking out two batters in a perfect inning. The Kernels didn’t put together a lot of offense. In fact, they had just four hits. In the top of the eighth, Jose Miranda doubled to score Michael Davis and give the game its only run. Miranda went 2-for-3 and the double was his 21st of the season E-TWINS E-TALK Elizabethton 9, Greeneville 11 Box Score What a tough way to lose a game!! Down by two going into the bottom of the ninth, the first two hitters for Elizabethton reached base. Greeneville made a pitching change, and with Alex Robles at the plate - already with three hits - and a 2-0 count when the rains came down. Players were pulled off the field, and they never returned. What could have been? We’ll never know, but I wouldn’t put anything past this Twins offense. They had big days from a lot of players. Yeltsin Encarnacion made his second appearance in an E-Twins lineup, and he went 4-for-5 with a walk and a double out of the second spot in the lineup. Ryan Jeffers went 3-for-5 with a walk. Alex Robles went 3-for-5. Trevor Larnach was 2-for-4 with two walks and two RBIs. Trevor Casanova had two hits, including his eighth double. Slugger Chris Williams went 0-for-1, but he walked five times ahead of Larnach. The E-Twins fell behind very early. Carlos Suniaga started and recorded just two outs. He gave up six runs (five earned) on four hits. He walked three and struck out one. Blair Lakso came on and threw 3 1/3 scoreless innings to continue an impressive streak for him. He walked three and struck out four. Juan Gamez was charged with four runs on six hits and four walks over his three innings. He struck three out. Tanner Howell worked the final two innings and gave up one run on two hits and a walk. He struck out two. https://twitter.com/SethTweets/status/1020474701695643648 GCL TWINS TALK GCL Twins 4, GCL Red Sox 3 Box Score Landon Leach made the start and the right-hander gave up three runs on four hits over 3 2/3 innings. He walked two and struck out four. Denny Bentley came on and got the next four outs. He gave up one hit, walked one and struck out one. Tyler Benninghoff worked a perfect inning in relief. Dylan Stowell struck out three over three hitless innings. He walked two. Victor Tademo had two of the Twins’ seven hits. He also stole his second base. Erick Rivera drove in two runs with his first professional double. Rivera is the youngest player on the GCL Twins’ roster. He wont turn 18 until mid-November. https://twitter.com/SethTweets/status/1018225977237876736 STARS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Hitter of the Day: Zander Wiel, Chattanooga Lookouts (2-5, 2 HR(6), 5 RBIs) Twins Daily Pitcher of the Day: Bailey Ober, Cedar Rapids Kernels (8 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 12 K) PROSPECT SUMMARY Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed. Please note that this prospect summary has been updated. #1 - Royce Lewis (Ft. Myers) - 2-5, HR(1), 5 RBI, R, 2 K In case you needed one more, here is Alex Kirilloff’s dad’s video of Lewis’s first FSL home run. He kept it rolling long enough to show the Lewis/Kirilloff home run shake-dance-thing. https://twitter.com/kirilloff19/status/1020467871779106817 #2 - Alex Kirilloff (Ft. Myers) - 2-5, 2-2B(8), R, K #3 - Brusdar Graterol (Ft. Myers) - 6 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 3 BB, 7 K, (82 pitches, 49 strikes) #4 - Nick Gordon (Rochester) - 0-5 #5 - Stephen Gonsalves (Rochester) - Did not pitch. #6 - Trevor Larnach (Elizabethton) - 2-4, 2 BB, 2 RBI, K #7 - Brent Rooker (Chattanooga) - 1-3, 2 BB, HR(17), R, RBI, K #8 - Akil Baddoo (Cedar Rapids) - 0-4, K #9 -Wander Javier - out of for the season #10 - Zack Littell (Rochester) - Did not pitch. #11 - Blayne Enlow (Cedar Rapids) - Did not pitch. #12 - LaMonte Wade (Rochester) - 0-3, 2 BB #13 - Travis Blankenhorn (Ft. Myers) - 0-4, BB, R, 2 K #14 - Lewis Thorpe (Chattanooga) - Did not pitch. #15 - Ben Rortvedt (Ft. Myers) - 2-4, BB, 2 R, 2 RBI, K #16 - Yunior Severino (Elizabethton) - 1-4, 2 BB, 2 R #17 - Lewin Diaz (Ft. Myers) - Did not play. #18 - Ryan Jeffers (Elizabethton) - 3-5, BB, R, RBI, K #19 - Jacob Pearson (Cedar Rapids) - 0-4, K #20 - Luis Arraez (Chattanooga) - 0-3, BB, K, RBI #21 - Jose Miranda (Cedar Rapids) - 2-3, BB, 2B(21), RBI *I figured that since Wander Javier is out, I’d add #21 to the list. SATURDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Norfolk @ Rochester (5:05 CST) - RHP Fernando Romero (2-1, 2.04 ERA) Chattanooga @ Mobile (7:05 CST) - LHP Dietrich Enns (0-4, 6.00 ERA) Lakeland @ Ft.. Myers (5:00 CST) - RHP Andro Cutura (3-4, 4.28 ERA) Cedar Rapids @ Lansing (6:05 CST) - RHP Blayne Enlow (1-2, 3.49 ERA) Princeton @ Elizabethton (5:00 CST) - TBD GCL Twins @ GCL Red Sox (9:00 am CST) - TBD Please feel free to ask any questions about Friday’s games, or ask any questions you may have.