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| ESPN.com | MLB on ESPN.com | MLB Player Index | Fantasy Baseball |
| #43 Mike Williams Pittsburgh Pirates | Roster |  |
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Age: 34 Height: 6-2 Weight: 200 lbs. Bats: Right Throws: Right Pos: RP Player Card: Fantasy |
Born: July 29, 1968, Radford, VA Full Name: Michael Darren Williams College: Virginia Tech Experience: 11 years |
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Profile | Statistics | Splits | Game Log | Batter vs. Pitcher | Auctions | |||||||
| SEASON STATS | CAREER: BATTING | PITCHING | FIELDING | |||||||||||||||||
| YEAR | G | GS | IP | H | R | ER | HR | BB | SO | W | L | Hld | Sv | BS | BAA | WHIP | ERA |
| 2002 | 59 | 0 | 61.1 | 54 | 24 | 20 | 6 | 21 | 43 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 46 | 4 | .233 | 1.22 | 2.93 |
| STAT BREAKDOWN | |||||||||||||||||
| CAREER | 400 | 55 | 705.1 | 698 | 372 | 337 | 84 | 302 | 545 | 31 | 47 | 13 | 116 | 18 | .259 | 1.42 | 4.30 |
 MLB: 97.2% NL Only: 99.7% Avg. Draft Position: MLB: 156.8 NL Only: 93.3 FLB Ranking Pre-season CL: #16 • Player Rater • Most Added/Dropped • Fantasy Player Card  • Wrigley Field: Your strikeout HQ -- Is Freddy Garcia actually underpaid? |
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Scouting Report 2002 Season After converting 69 of 82 save opportunities during the previous three seasons, Mike Williams established himself as a premier closer in 2002. He shattered the Pirates' single-season save record of 34, set by Jim Gott in 1988. Williams saved 63.9 percent of the Pirates' wins, the second highest percentage in history behind Bryan Harvey, who saved 70.3 of Florida's victories during the Marlins' expansion season in 1993. Williams' 46 saves were the most ever by a reliever on a team with a losing record. Pitching After struggling as a starter with Philadelphia early in his career, Williams has thrived as a reliever by relying on his sharp-breaking slider, which he throws with a curveball grip. He's mastered the slider to the point where he adeptly changes speeds and breaks with it. His fastball averages 88 MPH and tops out at 91. He became more effective last season because he started throwing more fastballs to righthanded hitters, while using more changeups against lefthanders. Williams gives up his share of baserunners and can be painstakingly slow on the mound. However, he doesn't get rattled and has confidence to extricate himself from the toughest of jams. Williams' arm got tired late last season, and his ERA was 5.89 in the final two months. Defense & Hitting Like most closers, Williams doesn't do a good job of holding runners. Basestealers were successful on all six attempts last season. He is an adequate fielder who gets off the mound fairly quickly. He made only two plate appearances in 2002, striking out once and getting hit by a pitch. He has just two extra-base hits in 108 career at-bats. 2003 Outlook Williams will be back as the Pirates' closer for a fifth straight season. While he doesn't overpower hitters like a classic closer, his slider often is unhittable and makes him a success. It may be too much to ask him to reach the 46-save plateau again. But he should get his fair share of opportunities this season, as the Pirates figure to improve on their win total of 72. |
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