Williams Selected in Major League Baseball Draft
Jun 07 | Baseball
PISCATAWAY, NJ - Rutgers University junior right fielder Dave Williams (Franklin, NJ) was selected by the Florida Marlins in the 2006 Major League Baseball First Year Player Draft on Wednesday. Williams, chosen in the 36th round, was the 1,085th overall pick.
'David has great tools and tremendous natural ability, with great power,' said Rutgers head coach Fred Hill. 'He suffered a pair of freak injuries that really limited him this season, but persevered through the setbacks to show his great potential in the BIG EAST Tournament. He is an exciting player to watch. You hate to part with players like David, but having a player of his caliber is what allows us to compete at a high level year in and year out.'
The 6-3, 220-pound Williams was a 25th-round selection (741 overall pick) of the Arizona Diamondbacks last season but chose not to sign with the club. He battled through a pair of injuries in 2006, playing in just 15 of Rutgers' 58 games.
Known as a power hitter with a strong arm, Williams had five hits, including two doubles and a home run in his first five games before a collision with the pitcher while running to first base against No. 1 Georgia Tech on March 3 resulted in a broken scaphoid bone in his right wrist. The ball rocketed off Williams' bat, ricocheted off the pitcher's thigh and came to a rest on the first base line. The pitcher, Blake Wood, collided with Williams in the middle of the first-base line while fielding the ball, flipping Williams over, where he landed on his wrist. The injury required surgery, causing the Scarlet Knights' power hitter to miss 30 games over the next 52 days.
Williams made his return in grand fashion against Seton Hall on April 25, going 3-for-4 with three runs and two RBI to lead RU to a 9-5 victory over the Pirates. He reached base on five of his six plate appearances in the game. After being struck with a pitch in his first at-bat and drawing a walk in his second, he rattled off three-straight singles in the contest.
In his second game back, he suffered a severely sprained ankle while sliding into second base against Lafayette on April 26, sideling him for 13 more games. He came back for RU's last regular-season series at Connecticut.
Williams returned to form in the postseason, hitting .333 with two doubles and a home run in Rutgers' four BIG EAST Tournament games in Clearwater, FL. He finished the season with a .314 average with four doubles and a pair of home runs in 15 games.
Williams owns a .295 career batting average in his first three seasons with the Scarlet Knights, including the last two seasons as Rutgers' starting right fielder. After red-shirting his freshman season in 2003, he made his collegiate debut in 2004 with 11 hits, including a double, triple and home run in 24 games. In Williams' first season as the Scarlet Knights' starting right fielder in 2005, he hit 11 doubles, a triple and six home runs for a .513 slugging percentage, driving in 32 runs in 43 games.
Williams' selection marks the ninth straight season a Rutgers player has been drafted. He is the ninth outfielder selected out of Rutgers since the 1999 season. Williams' selection also means that every player who has started in right field for the Scarlet Knights since 1998 has been chosen in the MLB draft. Williams, RU's starting right fielder the past two seasons, joins a right field group that includes David DeJesus (1998), Pete Zoccolillo (1999), DeJesus (2000), Billy McCarthy (2001), Val Majewski (2002) and Jeff Frazier (2003, 04).
