Aug 16, 2025; San Francisco, California, USA; A Tampa Bay Rays helmet sits in the dugout before the game against the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park. Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

Rays' Prospect Should Be Starter on Opening Day

Originally posted on Tampa Bay Rays on SI
By Nick Ziegler | Last updated Mar 20, 2026 7:00 PM ET

The Tampa Bay Rays are getting ready for the start of the season, and their roster is starting to take shape for the campaign. However, a recent injury to a likely starter has likely changed their plans.

Following a disappointing campaign in 2025, the Rays are hoping to be a contender once again in 2026. For the last two years, Tampa Bay has been unable to make the postseason, and that resulted in some changes this winter.

The Rays were a very active team this winter in both free agency and the trade market, and this will look like a much different team on Opening Day compared to last season. The hope is that they will be able to be a contender once again with some of the moves they made.

However, while the team hopes to improve, they did seemingly have a bit of an eye toward the future. This was a farm system that got completely overhauled with an influx of talent. While the team did focus on improving their system, they will be hoping that some of their young talent can contribute in the majors. Due to the recent injury to Taylor Walls, top prospect Carson Williams could be one young player to try to make an impact right away.

Williams Should Be a Starter

It was just a few days ago that the Rays elected to option both Williams and Jacob Melton to Triple-A to further help their development. With a desire to get them both as much playing time as possible in a starting role, starting the year in the minors did make sense for both of them.

However, of the two, it was Williams who was having a really impressive spring training. The young shortstop has slashed .320/.333/.400 showing a nice improvement at the plate from his short stint in the majors last season.

As a good defender with power at the position, there is a lot to like about his game. However, one of the flaws was his lack of contact at the plate. That appears to be an area that he really focused on improving this winter, and he gained valuable experience from his short time in the majors.

With Walls starting the season on the injured list, it should be Williams who gets the starting nod. As the top prospect in the system with some experience in the majors already, the time to see what Williams can do is now.

This article first appeared on Tampa Bay Rays on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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