Posted on: Friday, April 25, 2003

Giant Williams starts tomorrow

Advertiser Staff

Waipahu High graduate Jerome Williams will make his major league debut tomorrow when the San Francisco Giants play at the Philadelphia Phillies.

News service reports late yesterday indicated the 21-year-old right-hander would pitch today.

A Giants spokesman said that since since pitcher Jason Schmidt is on a "bereavement leave" because of the passing of his mother, the team has a seven-day window in which the big league roster may be expanded to 26 players, or one more than the maximum limit.

The spokesman said it hasn't been determined if the call-up is permanent or for just the one start. He said the call-up is not official yet, but the team is supposed to make an announcement today. "You wouldn't be wrong if you said he was going to pitch Saturday," he said.

Williams was the 39th overall selection out of Waipahu in the 1999 draft. He was assigned to Triple-A Fresno (Calif.) out of spring training. He was 1-1 with a 1.29 earned run average in four starts. His last start was Sunday, when he pitched five innings, he said.