Max Williams didn’t wait long to announce he was back.
After losing the first few months of his first full pro season, the Marlins’ No. 27 prospect opened his return on July 9 with a homer in his first at-bat. That swing set the tone for a short but productive stretch that helped him get back on track.
“You just get that confidence and you start rolling, and then I was playing like five, six games a week,” Williams said. “I was able to get on a pretty good run for pretty much the whole short season that I played.”
Williams, a third-round pick out of Florida State, was one of several members of the 2025 Draft class dealing with injuries early in 2026, alongside Aiva Arquette, Cam Cannarella and Brandon Compton. While he was limited physically, he used the downtime to add strength in the weight room and sharpen the mental side of his game by studying old at-bats. His approach work was a big focus, especially for a hitter who has always attacked aggressively and chased secondary pitches at a high clip in college.
“Obviously, it's not ideal to start your first season, but just whenever you get that news, it's just kind of always like, 'What positive things can I get from this?'” Williams said.
“... Just doing some visualization stuff and whatever I could do to help my swing without actually physically swinging.
That's what I took away from it.”
When he finally came back, about a week before the All-Star break, the Marlins kept the assignment simple: get at-bats, stack reps and don’t worry about putting too much on his plate. He served only as the designated hitter while working through a throwing progression, and with limited live at-bats available, the priority was just getting him back into game action.
Williams said that time away also changed his mindset. He’s usually tough on himself and carries high expectations, but after never dealing with an injury in high school or college, he found himself appreciating the chance to compete again.
The results were loud. In 48 games between Single-A Jupiter, High-A Beloit and Double-A Pensacola, the 22-year-old hit .326/.399/.620 with 10 doubles and 15 homers. He also struck out 35 times, but he balanced that with 22 walks.
MLB Pipeline’s scouting report describes the left-handed slugger as a player who can generate plenty of thump from a crouched stance, using impressive hand speed to drive the ball. And while Williams still has work to do, the combination of better contact and a stronger walk rate can give that profile more upside.
“Obviously, [I have] a long way to go,” Williams said. “I’ve got a lot of things I could still work on with my approach, but I was able to walk a little bit more.
I think I was punching out a little bit less, but really when I was choosing to swing early in counts, I was getting my best swing off more consistently. So that was huge for me, especially this year.
I was able to impact the ball a lot more than I have in the past.”
Williams also said watching Cannarella and Compton - both left-handed hitters, both successful at Double-A - gave him confidence that he could do the same. Cannarella earned the organization’s Player of the Year honor, while Compton was named Double-A Pensacola MVP.
He even mixed in some corner-outfield work over the final two weeks of the season, and now he’s a full-go in the Arizona Fall League, where he’s getting more reps. Entering Saturday, he was 3-for-25 (.120) with one RBI, one steal, two walks and eight strikeouts in parts of six games.
When the AFL wraps up, Williams will continue his offseason work at the Marlins’ Jupiter Academy.
“[I'll be] continuing with shaping myself [into] becoming an overall better hitter, just kind of trying to control the zone a little bit more, being a little bit more patient, just kind of being confident and trusting myself to go deeper in counts because I don't swing and miss often in the zone,” Williams said. “So just being comfortable getting into deeper counts and seeing more pitches, and then really just playing the outfield more.”
In Other News...
Agustn Ramrez Suddenly Faces A Real Marlins Future Question
Agustin Ramirez arrived as one of the more intriguing young pieces in the Marlins catching picture, with enough offensive upside to keep the organization interested even as the overall package remained unfinished. The problem for Miami is that catching depth has shifted around him, and Ramirezs 2026 season did not make the decision any easier, with inconsistency at the plate and defensive growing pains keeping him from locking down a clearer role.
Joe Macks rise has only sharpened the question facing the front office now. Ramirez still has time to develop and remains under team control for years to come, which gives the Marlins a real choice between patience and a more aggressive move if they think his value on the market is stronger than his fit in-house. For a club trying to sort out young talent and roster construction at the same time, it is the kind of call that can shape the next few seasons. [Read more 🡒]