Mets No. 3 prospect Jett Williams is only 19 years old and just got to Double-A — which is no small feat for a player his age — but he’s setting his sights much higher next season.
Williams told Mark Sanchez of the New York Post that making it to the majors will be “my No. 1 goal next year.”
“Be a September call-up, if not earlier,” Williams said. “I’m not really focusing on that too much. Obviously, you wake up every day, seeing that as a goal. I feel like every time I see that, it’s the reason I come to the field, work hard every day. Trying to check that goal off.”
The 5-foot-6 shortstop and outfielder is in the midst of a swift rise throughout the Mets’ ranks. Just this season alone, he’s moved up three levels of the organization’s farm system, making his Double-A debut this month in Binghamton. In 121 combined games in 2023, he’s slashing .263/.425/.451 (.876 OPS) with 13 home runs, 55 RBI, 104 walks, and 45 stolen bases.
It earned him Mets Minor League Player of the Year honors from Baseball America.
“I feel like I’ve had a really good season,” Williams continued. “I’ve been through a lot of ups and downs. I never really freaked out, I would say, when not hitting at Low-A. … I didn’t really let that affect me. But this year’s gone pretty well. Just how I am, I feel like I could have done a lot better if I didn’t have the slow start. But sometimes I think you’ve got to fail in order to succeed.”
Mets general manager Billy Eppler added to Sanchez that Williams’ “production was probably about as good as he could have envisioned and as we could have envisioned.
Still, making the jump to the majors at 20 years old and after just one full season in the minors is no easy task. But the Mets are prioritizing youth as they continue to shift their philosophy toward building a self-sustaining contender thanks to a rebuilt farm system. Francisco Alvarez has taken over starting-catching duties this season while Brett Baty, Ronny Mauricio, and Mark Vientos have all been called up this season and given consistent playing time after the team was disbanded at the trade deadline after a disappointing four months.
