Ben Williamson Is Quietly Building a Real Case for Your Watchlist
Ben Williamson is doing something that should get your attention: he's walking nearly a quarter of the time, striking out less than 10%, and hitting the ball hard — all while rostered in just 1% of leagues. The Tampa Bay infielder has been on WaiverScout's radar for weeks, and the signal is no longer flickering. It's strengthening.
The Rolling Window Tells the Story
Williamson's 7-day line is the headline: a .349 wOBA paired with a 9.5% strikeout rate and a 23.8% walk rate across 21 plate appearances. Those plate discipline numbers are absurd. But what makes this more than a one-week blip is the trajectory across all three windows.
His 30-day wOBA sits at .331 — already a solid mark — but it's been climbing. At 14 days, it's .345. At 7 days, .349. The strikeout rate has moved in the right direction at every interval: 17.1% over 30 days, 11.1% over 14 days, 9.5% over the last week. Meanwhile, his walk rate has surged from 13.2% to 16.7% to 23.8% across those same windows. This isn't random variance. This is a hitter refining his approach in real time.
The Batted Ball Data Backs It Up
Williamson isn't just taking walks and putting the bat on the ball — he's hitting the ball hard. His 7-day exit velocity sits at 94.1 mph with a 55.5% hard-hit rate. Zoom out to 14 days and it's even better: 95.1 mph average exit velocity and a 60.7% hard-hit rate. The 30-day hard-hit mark of 45% and 91.3 mph EV suggest his recent surge in quality contact is a tangible improvement, not a mirage.
The power hasn't shown up in the box score yet — zero home runs across the sample — but with exit velocities in the mid-90s and hard-hit rates north of 55%, the barrels are coming. This is a 25-year-old former second-round pick (57th overall in 2023) who is putting together quality at-bats with multi-position eligibility at 2B, 3B, and SS. That kind of versatility has standalone roster value.
WaiverScout Has Been Tracking This
We first flagged Williamson back on March 30 when he was a deprioritize at sub-1% ownership. He stayed in that bucket through mid-April. Then on May 4, we upgraded him to Watch — and the numbers since have only validated that call. This is exactly how our algorithm works: it identifies skill improvements before ownership moves. Right now, ownership hasn't budged. That's your window.
Why He's Not a Pickup Yet
Thirty-six plate appearances over five games is a solid sample — enough to make real observations, not enough to bet the farm. The zero home runs and zero stolen bases mean he's not contributing in the counting stats that win weeks. And the broader fantasy landscape isn't paying attention yet: FantasyPros and FanGraphs list him but he's barely a blip in expert rankings. That's fine. We don't need the crowd to agree — we need to be positioned before it does.
If you're in deeper leagues or need middle infield flexibility, Williamson deserves a longer look compared to options like JJ Wetherholt or Brooks Lee — particularly if Tampa Bay continues giving him consistent run at 21 PA over the last seven days.
The Verdict: Watch
Ben Williamson is a Watch. The plate discipline gains are real. The batted-ball quality is legitimate. The playing time is consistent. What's missing is the production payoff — the homers, the steals, the RBI volume. If those start appearing alongside this skill profile, the add recommendation will follow quickly. For now, get him on your radar and monitor the next two weeks closely. The data is clear: something is building here.