Williams is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Brewers.

EDGE Analysis

Ben Williamson will cover shortstop in the series finale in Milwaukee after Williams had occupied the position in each of the Rays' first five games. The 22-year-old rookie has gotten off to a slow start, slashing just .158/.200/.211 while striking out in six of his 21 plate appearances.

Williams will start at shortstop for the Rays on Opening Day in St. Louis, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

EDGE Analysis

The injury to Taylor Walls (oblique) made this likely, and now the Rays have made it official. Williams had a solid showing this spring with a .779 OPS, one home run and one stolen base, though it came with a 1:7 BB:K. The 22-year-old has major swing-and-miss issues, but Williams could hit for enough power and steal enough bases to be a viable fantasy contributor even if he proves a drag on batting average.

Williams is back with the Rays in big-league camp Thursday and could begin the season as the club's primary shortstop since Taylor Walls is out with an oblique injury, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

EDGE Analysis

Williams was optioned to Triple-A Durham on Tuesday but is back in Tampa Bay's Grapefruit League lineup Thursday following Walls' injury, which has an undisclosed recovery timeline. The 22-year-old Williams is now the favorite to begin the season as the Rays' starting shortstop, though he still needs to be added back to the big-league roster. The club could consider some outside options, but it's a tight window to do so with Opening Day just one week away.

The Rays optioned Williams to Triple-A Durham on Tuesday, Ryan Bass of FanDuel Sports Network Sun reports.

EDGE Analysis

Williams was competing with Taylor Walls at shortstop with the Rays, but instead Williams will begin the season at Triple-A. The 22-year-old got his first taste of the big leagues last season and posted a .573 OPS with five home runs, 12 RBI, 11 runs scored, two stolen bases and an ugly 6:44 BB:K across 106 plate appearances. Williams should be back in the majors at some point in 2026.

Williams went 2-for-3 in Monday's Grapefruit League game against the Tigers and is now 7-for-19 with an RBI this spring.

EDGE Analysis

Williams, one of Tampa Bay's top prospects, closed out last season in the major leagues and is now trying to break Rays camp with an Opening Day roster spot. The 22-year-old infielder has hit safely in six of his eight Grapefruit League appearances so far, picking up a pair of doubles as well. He's competing primarily with the switch-hitting Taylor Walls, who has gone 5-for-12 with a home run and three RBI in four spring outings, for regular reps at shortstop, and Williams could still open the new year with Triple-A Durham if Gavin Lux (upper body) and Richie Palacios (back) are healthy.

Williams went 1-for-4 with a solo home run Friday against the Red Sox.

EDGE Analysis

Williams took Garrett Crochet deep for a solo home run in the fourth inning, his second long ball in as many games. He has struggled for long portions of his first stint in the majors, fueled primarily by a 36.7 percent strikeout rate across 79 plate appearances. However, Williams has a modest three-game hitting streak and has struck out only twice across his last 11 plate appearances.

Williams is absent from the lineup for Tuesday's contest against the Blue Jays.

EDGE Analysis

Williams had started each of the previous six games, but he'll begin Tuesday's festivities on the bench. Tristan Gray will play shortstop and bat seventh for the Rays.

Williams is hitting .255/.347/.489 with 13 home runs, 21 steals and 41:125 BB:K in 82 games for Single-A Charleston.

EDGE Analysis

Yep, that's 125 strikeouts in 82 games for Williams -- good for an ugly 32.9 percent strikeout rate. He came out of the gate on fire, putting up a .323 average and 1.018 OPS through his first 33 games of the year, but in the 50 games since, he's put up a .208 batting average and .710 OPS. The stolen-base production has fallen off, too -- he's gone 0-for-2 over his last 16 games. Williams still boasts an intriguing power-speed blend, and he's considered a good bet to stick at shortstop, so there's still plenty to dream on here, but as the Rays (and fantasy managers) have seen with the travails of Josh Lowe this year, a subpar hit tool can prevent the other tools from showing through regularly.

Williams is hitting .323/.418/.600 with four homers, 12 steals, 1 RBI and 25 runs across 33 games for Single-A Charleston.

EDGE Analysis

That 1.018 OPS is the good news; the bad news is that Williams has a 33.3 percent strikeout rate. He's also drawing walks at a decent clip (13.1 percent), but he'll need to cut down on those swing-and-miss issues to have any hope of hitting for decent average in the big leagues. Nonetheless, it's been an incredible start to the year for Williams, who's shown a ton of extra-base ability with 10 doubles and seven triples to accompany his four long balls. Considering his exploits on the bases, it seems like evaluators may have underestimated his speed. He should be a big riser on the midseason prospect lists.