Pirates All 40: Alika Williams Needs to Replicate AAA Stats in Majors

This is one in a series of stories breaking down members of the Pittsburgh Pirates’ 40-man roster.

Alika Williams’ inclusion on the Pittsburgh Pirates’ 2024 opening-day roster was a bit of a surprise.

Despite appearing in 46 games for the Pirates as a rookie in 2023, Williams seemed ticketed for Triple-A Indianapolis. While Williams made the most of his early appearances with the Pirates this past season, he wound up playing in just 37 games and finished the season at Indy.

Williams had a surprisingly hot start as he went 11 for 35 (.315) in his first 11 games through April 27. Included in that run was a career-best eight-game hitting streak.

However, Williams cooled after that and never got hot again. He went 0 for 11 during a four-game stretch from April 30-May 8 to drop his batting average to .239 and finished the season with a .207/.242/.299 slash line. Williams had no home runs, one stolen base, three walks and 22 strikeouts in 96 plate appearances.

Williams was optioned to Indianapolis twice after that and had a stint on the major-league injured list with a sprained right wrist.

That came after he batted .199/.270/.248 in 112 trips to the plate as a rookie.

Williams did fare well at Indianapolis for a second consecutive season with a .311/.386/.394 mark in 41 games. After being acquired from the Tampa Bay Rays during an in-season trade in 2023, he slashed .305/.384/.531 in 36 games at Indy.

The 25-year-old Williams came to the Pirates with the reputation of being a good defender and his glove played a large role in the Rays making him a first-round draft pick in 2020 from Arizona State. However, he had zero defensive runs saved in 16 games at shortstop in the major leagues in 2024 and minus-1 DRS in 20 games as a second baseman.

Williams will presumably compete for a spot as a utility infielder during spring training next year as shortstop Isiah Kiner-Falefa and second baseman Nick Gonzales are the presumptive season-opening starting middle infielders.

However, Williams will have to beat out either Gold Glove winner Jared Triolo or rookie Nick Yorke to win one of two infield bench spots, which seems unlikely. Liover Peguero also should be in that mix with prospect Tsung-Che Cheng and Tristan Gray, who was claimed off waivers from the Oakland Athletics earlier this month.

Williams is the type of player who could fall off the 40-man roster at some point this offseason. However, hitting .300 in Triple-A and his relatively young age provide at least a glimmer of hope.