Iowa baseball’s Peyton Williams posted a .298 batting average in 122 plate appearances in 2021. The left-handed slugger played in 38 of the Hawkeyes’ 44 games last year, racking up six home runs and 27 RBIs in the process.

Williams is a career .296 hitter. The 6-foot-5, 255-pounder has registered 43 RBIs and eight home runs as a Hawkeye.

Counting the 15-game, COVID-19-shortened 2020 season, Williams has just 53 collegiate contests to his name.

In many of his 53 career games, Williams has dealt with injuries. Last season, the redshirt sophomore sustained an injury Iowa head coach Rick Heller initially categorized as a quadricep problem.

While Williams did not miss many contests with the ailment, it did impact his ability to play the infield. Before he was hurt, Williams was the Hawkeyes’ starter at first base. After the injury, Williams was pulled from first base and thrown into a new role as Iowa’s designated hitter.

When the 2021 season concluded, Williams began to search for ways to stave off the injury bug that plagued him throughout his college career.

“I’ve been really focusing on trying to be healthier, trying to get back to where I was when I came here,” Williams said at Iowa baseball media day Feb. 10. “I’ve had a rough time with injuries ever since I’ve been here. I’ve had to play through those.

“This fall, right now, my body feels better than it ever has,” Williams added. “I’ve been doing a lot of stuff on my own with the trainers, with the lifting coach, to make sure that I can sustain this healthy body and ride it out all throughout the season.”

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Williams said his new stretching regimen has been the key to maintaining his newer, healthier physique. Williams has been stretching before he does any physical activity to make sure all his muscles are working. Williams and his trainers believe stretching will help all his muscles work together when he’s on the field, ensuring there aren’t just one or two parts of his body enduring all the physical strain of baseball.

“Peyton’s as healthy as he’s been since he’s been here,” Heller said. “Last year, he fought through injuries from the first game until the end of the season and still put up good numbers. I’m anxious to see what Peyton can do this year.

“[Peyton] comes in in the best shape of his life,” Heller added. “He’s moving better. He’s running better. He’s a big cog in our offense, for sure.”

Williams said he’s comfortable hitting anywhere in Iowa’s batting order. He was the third hitter in Heller’s lineup for the majority of the 2021 season.

Regardless of his spot in Iowa’s batting order, Williams said he’d prefer to return to first base, defensively, rather than DH this year.

With a return to first base and an injury-free campaign on the table this year, Williams has set modest goals for himself.

“[I’m] trying to show off some power that I have and be a little more consistent with it,” Williams said. “I’m just trying to be able to show that small glimpse that I showed last year all throughout this season.”