How Blue Jays prospect Peyton Williams earned 'Iowa Meat Truck' nickname

With so many players in a team's minor league system, it can sometimes be tough for players to stand out.

Sometimes they'll need to hit a majestic home run or find their way into a team's prospect rankings.

But from Peyton Williams, all it took was a nickname.

Williams, the Blue Jays No. 29 prospect per MLB Pipeline, has spent the better part of the past year gong the nickname "The Iowa Meat Truck."

And, if his recent tear is to be believed, then it might not be long until we see him driving his proverbial truck into the batter's box at Rogers Centre.

Why 'The Iowa Meat Truck' could be the Blue Jays' most important prospect

Williams' nickname has a bit of a unique background, as it's derived from his neighbor's company in Des Moines, Iowa. One day, Williams wore one of the company's shirts to a meeting, and the legend was born from there.

“I wore the Iowa Meat Truck to a meeting and the coaches loved it,” Williams told MLB.com's Keegan Matheson. “So they said that every time I hit a double or a home run, I’ve just got to honk the horn. Our announcer up in Vancouver was wondering what the celebration was, so I told him and he loved it. Then, whenever something happened, he’d try to work it in there. My neighbor back home loves it. He’s loving it.”

Williams is listed at 6-foot-5, 255 pounds (making him the biggest player in the Blue Jays' organization, so it's a fitting nickname.

While that size doesn't make him the fleetest of foot or give him a ton of positional versility, it does mean that he can hit the ball hard.

He smashed 14 home runs across 82 games in the minor leagues in 2023 before adding 11 long balls in 85 games in Rookie Ball, Single-A and High-A in 2024.

He's gotten off to a strong start this year with Double-A New Hampshire, as he's already crushed two home runs in eight games, one of which was a walk-off home run.

He's not a perfect player (MLB Pipeline has him as a 40-grade fielder and a 20-grade runner), but he has the kind of pop that can get you a shot in the big leagues.

The Blue Jays tried their hand at plenty of bat-first first baseman before Vladimir Guerrero Jr. became the long-term solution, which is why there are plenty of Rowdy Tellez, Daniel Vogelbach, Brandon Belt and Travis Shaw jerseys tucked in the back of closets across Canada.

As Matheson points out in his article, Tellez is probbaly a good comparison for Williams. They're both big left-handed hitters who came up through Toronto's system, and Tellez's minor league output had Blue Jays' salvating about the thought of what he could do once he got to MLB.

Williams is probably a bit ahead of Tellez at this point in his career (Tellez jumped onto the map with a 23 homer season in Double-A), and he's also a bit of a different kind of hitter.

Williams hit .288 with 45 walks last year to go along with his strong power numbers, which shows that he's a bit more than a one-dimension hitter at the plate. And he was also a Fall League All-Star last year.

Minor league success doesn't always translate to MLB success, but, if Williams ever does end up making it to MLB, he'll immediately become a fan favorite.