Dwanya Williams-Sutton has reached safely in 17 straight games

In 2018 the Padres took Dwanya Williams-Sutton in the fifth round of the First Year Player Draft. For some, this might be the last you’ve heard of him. Others might have caught wind of the game where he was hit by pitch four times. Or, maybe you noticed that I mentioned him as a name to watch outside of my top prospect list.

Either way, Williams-Sutton is eventually going to be a hard name to forget once you learn it. He played only 27 games in his draft year thanks to injuries, but things are trending upward right now. His wRC+ sits at 135 through 68 games in 2019.

A healthy Williams-Sutton is finding his groove in Fort Wayne. He has reached base safely in his last 17 games. Whether it be via hit, walk, or getting hit, Williams-Sutton has found a way. During that stretch he is hitting .283 with 10 RBI, 10 walks, 11 strikeouts, and 11 HBP.

Something about him just begs pitchers to throw at him, apparently. If you want to see, here is a video of him getting hit four times.

For his size, he has not unlocked his power yet, but that should be coming. He has shown his power to the pull side, though he has the ability to hit to all fields. Here is a look at his career spray chart thanks to Baseball Savant.

You can see only a few extra base hits to the opposite field from the big righty. But, his ability to hit to all fields is nice.

What I really like about Williams-Sutton this early in his career is the maturity he shows at the plate. His approach seems more refined recently, but he is walking a lot and getting bat on ball.

There was a really food quote from Jon Matthews in a recent article by Dylan Sinn of The Journal Gazzette.

“When he’s on time, he’s a dangerous guy.” Matthews said.

Williams-Sutton was drafted before 2018. The Reds selected him in the 26th round back in 2015. Here is a link to his draft video profile from 2015. When I watched that 2015 video, the first thing I noticed was how prominent his upper body was in his swing. That is something that matured during his time at ECU, and even more so as a professional. Unfortunately, my efforts to track down a current Williams-Sutton swing have not been fruitful, I will hopefully be making a trip out to Fort Wayne soon to rectify that.

There is, however, video from Williams-Sutton making a beautiful defensive play in college.

There is still work to do for Williams-Sutton, but don’t be surprised if he turns into someone to watch. I’m crazy, but sometimes I know what I am talking about. With his mature approach, knack for getting on base, and size, don’t be surprised when people start to remember Dwanya Williams-Sutton’s name for more than just being interesting.