After three years managing the Triple-A Durham Bulls — to a cumulative .589 record and consecutive Triple-A national championships in 2021 and ‘22 — Brady Williams is getting the call to the bigs this season. He’ll serve as the third-base coach for the famously savvy Tampa Bay Rays, with whom his knowledge of the organization’s up-and-coming players will serve him in deciding whether to send a guy.
He also brings valuable experience with some of the rule changes poised to go into effect at the major-league level this season. Williams has seen the bigger bases, nervously sweated through the pressure-packed pitch timer and even reckoned with robo-umps (which are at least a year away from infiltrating the majors).