Rays select shortstop Carson Williams (No. 28) in first round of 2021 MLB First-Year Player Draft

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla.—The Tampa Bay Rays have selected shortstop Carson Williams from Torrey Pines (Calif.) High School with the No. 28 pick in the first round of the 2021 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft.

Williams, 18, hit .495/.598/.979 (48-for-97) with 10 doubles, two triples, 11 home runs, 35 RBI and 34 stolen bases in 31 games as a senior and .397 (77-for-194) with 16 home runs and 47 RBI in 66 career high school games. He was named Most Valuable Player of Perfect Game’s World Wood Bat Association World Championship last October. He was ranked as the No. 29 overall player in this year’s draft by CBS Sports, No. 31 by FanGraphs and No. 41 by both Baseball America and MLB.com. He was also ranked by Baseball America as the No. 4 player in this year’s draft out of the state of California.

This was the latest non-compensatory and non-supplemental first-round selection for the Rays since they held the No. 30 pick in the 2009 Amateur Draft. James Shields, a 16th-round selection by the Rays in 2000, and area supervisor David Hamlett represented the Rays at Bellco Theatre in Denver. Williams becomes the eighth high school infielder selected by the Rays in the first round, including third baseman Josh Lowe (No. 13) in 2016, shortstop Tim Beckham (No. 1) in 2008 and shortstop B.J. Upton (No. 2) in 2002. He was one of 11 shortstops selected within the 36 picks on the first day of the draft. He is committed to play college baseball next season at the University of California, Berkeley.

CARSON WILLIAMS, SS

Bats/Throws: R/R | Height/Weight: 6-2/180 | Born: June 25, 2003 | Hometown: San Diego, CA