Justin Williams, Kwang Hyun Kim Placed On IL Saturday
St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Justin Williams (neck) and starting pitcher Kwang Hyun Kim (back) were both placed on the 10-day injured list on Saturday, according to Zachary Silver of MLB.com. Kim exited his start on Friday in the third inning due to back tightness, manager Mike Shildt said that while he was moving better on Saturday, it wasn't quite as good as the team was hoping for. Williams was placed on the IL due to a stiff neck, as he has not played since Tuesday where he went 0-for-3 with a walk and a strikeout against the Dodgers. While Williams hasn't provided much fantasy value with his .160/.270/261 triple-slash line, Kim has been a decent pitcher when healthy, posting a 4.05 ERA and 1.350 WHIP with a 20.3 percent strikeout rate over 40 innings of work.
St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Justin Williams struck out in all four of his plate appearances in Tuesday's game against the Pittsburgh Pirates. The 0-for-4 "performance" dropped his batting average to .169 and his OPS to .566. He's struck out 35 times in 97 plate appearances and looks lost at times at the plate. He's always had some swing and miss in his game, but strikeouts were never this big of an issue for him at the minor league level. Since being called up however, he's striking out in more than 33% of his at bats.
St. Louis Cardinals rookie outfielder Justin Williams did not have a good day at the plate on Sunday, going 0-for-3 with three strikeouts. It's been a rough start to the season for the 25-year-old, who is now hitless in nine at bats and has struck out five times. He's looked overmatched so far and is a prime candidate for a day off when the Cardinals begin a new series on the road against the Miami Marlins on Monday.
Justin Williams Starting In Right Field On Opening Day
St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Justin Williams is starting in right field and batting eighth on Opening Day as the team faces Luis Castillo and the Cincinnati Reds. Harrison Bader (forearm) is opening the season on the injured list and is expected to miss about a month. During that period, Williams should see regularly playing time. The 25-year-old has just seven career MLB plate appearances. He showed the ability to be a solid contact hitter with some power as well in the minors. In 2019, over 53 games split between Double-A and Triple-A, he slashed .296/.372/.484 with eight home runs, 29 RBI and 27 runs. He's worth keeping an eye on in deep leagues and NL-only leagues over the next week.
The Tampa Bay Rays are calling up outfield prospect Justin Williams with outfielder Kevin Kiermaier (foot) out for the rest of the weekend. Williams, the team's No. 8 prospect per MLB.com, is a left-handed hitter that was batting .267 with eight home runs, 45 RBI and three steals in 87 games with Triple-A Durham. He'll be making his major league debut but is unlikely to stick around past this weekend with Kiermaier expected to return on Monday.