Mets select SS Jett Williams with No. 14 pick in 2022 MLB Draft

New York has five picks in the first 90 of the draft

7/18/2022, 12:49 AM
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The Mets selected SS Jett Williams from Rockwall-Heath High School in Rockwall, Texas with the No. 14 pick in the 2022 MLB Draft in Los Angeles.

Williams, 18, was MLB.com's No. 21 overall prospect and is committed to Mississippi State. He's listed at 5-foot-8, 170 pounds, and is viewed by scouts as one of the best hitters in the draft.

New York had just selected catcher Kevin Parada from Georgia Tech with the 11th pick.

Williams, who was not in attendance for the draft, spoke briefly with reporters via Zoom and let fans know that he actually has a childhood connection to the area.

"When I heard my name called, it was pretty surreal," Williams said. "You know what's funny is, I used to actually live in New York when I was 2 to 4. So happy to come back home and can't wait to get to work, pretty awesome moment."

He added: "I lived in Long Island and Port Jefferson, and I moved away because my dad was a PA and physician's assistant and chiropractor," Williams added. "So he moved down to Texas for work, so we came here. My brother and him actually went to Stony Brook for college. My brother played lacrosse and is now in medical school."

Williams went on to discuss his style of play, even comparing himself to some of the shorter stars in MLB whom he looked up to like Alex Bregman, Jose Altuve, and Mookie Betts.

"I feel like I play the game the right way," he said. "Play hard, play with a little bit of a chip on my shoulder, just knowing that I'm kind of an undersized guy, and I feel like I always kind of have to prove everybody wrong. Kind of just do the little things right, running out ground balls, running out fly balls. And then I feel like my hitting is really, really good, I have really good plate discipline and best ball skills, and just ready to get to work."

With the Mets having five picks within the first 90 of the draft, the team has a chance to jolt its farm system this year.

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Joe's Reaction

Williams is my personal favorite player in the class. He is the smallest player in the class, listed at 5-foot-8 and 170 pounds, but has as good bat-to-ball skills as any high school hitter in this class outside of Termarr Johnson.

He is a plus athlete who should be able to profile at second base or center field without much issue. He is a baseball gym rat with the gritty mentality that fans will love to watch.

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