Interview Excerpts: Reading manager Shawn Williams

Last month I sat down with Reading skipper Shawn Williams to talk about several of his players.  Some of the quotes from that interview remained unpublished since that time.  Among the topics of discussion for the Double-A Fightin Phils were slugging first baseman Darick Hall, infielder Arquimedes Gamboa, starting pitcher Adonis Medina and more.

Read ahead for those exclusive interview excerpts...


-You've got a power hitting prospect on this team in Darick Hall.  I know he had a battle in spring training with Dylan Cozens going head to head.  What was that like?  Was it fun for everyone?

It was fun watching both of them  They squared off in a home run derby.  That's two guys that have big time power.  They do it in the game and they can really do it in (batting practice).  But, to see both of them squaring off, it was fun to watch.  And even (Deivi) Grullon was part of that too and Grullon put on a show.  So, it was just a lot of fun to see the guys in our organization and the power they have, how far they were hitting balls.  Just a great atmosphere for our whole minor league system.

Arquimedes Gamboa, image- Jay Floyd

-Arquimedes Gamboa is a guy with a good reputation that's part of this club.  Can you comment on him?

Yeah, he's a very, very good defender.  He's playing shortstop.  He's gonna play a little bit everywhere, second, third and short, to get acclimated to those positions.  He's done a lot of it.  I know in the fall league he played third.  In spring he's done all three.  It's just gonna make him a better, more round infielder.  And offensively, he keeps coming.  He's only gonna get better.  The more at bats he gets, the stronger he gets.  You know, he's got a good swing.  He's got a good idea in there with plate discipline.  He loves the competition, so I think this league's gonna be good for him.  And he'll compete and get some good at bats and he does a lot of good things on the field, with base running, hitting and defense especially.

-Adonis Medina, one of your pitchers, is among the Phillies' top ranked prospects.  What have you seen from him?

Three plus-plus pitches. He's got a really good fastball, breaking ball and change up and when all three are on, you're not going to hit him.  And the thing that he's learning, in a game when he doesn't have one of those pitches (going well), he's learned how to get through it.  (He's) another guy that's developing and mature. He's got three plus pitches and he's learning how to pitch.  And he's learning how to pitch when he maybe doesn't have his best stuff, which was great to see. But the stuff he's got is explosive.  He's a guy with a very high ceiling.

-Can you help get the nickname "MoYo" going for starting pitcher Mauricio Llovera?

That's actually what I call him. 

-I'm so happy to hear that.

Yup, that's exactly what I call him.