Conversations with the Herd: Peyton Williams

By: Brian Frank

Peyton Williams became an instant fan favorite at Sahlen Field when he joined the Herd in August. The Iowa native quickly endeared himself to local fans with his power hitting and distinctive nickname—The Iowa Meat Truck. The team even began playing a truck horn over the P.A. system every time Williams collected a base hit.

The 6’5” first baseman had an incredible high school baseball career at Johnstown High School in Johnstown, Iowa. He helped lead the Dragons to multiple state tournament appearances, winning the state title his sophomore year. He was named the Iowa High School Baseball Association Player of the Year his senior season, when he hit .473 and led the state with 16 home runs.

“Winning the state title is probably number one,” Williams recently said of a high school baseball moment that stands out. “But there’s so many guys from those teams that I still talk to all the time to this day. Guys shooting me texts. Just like three weeks ago I had a lot of guys shooting me texts congratulating me on getting called up to Buffalo. It’s those memories—I think the relationships I built there are probably the best moments.”

The Iowa Meat Truck. Photo Courtesy of the Buffalo Bisons Baseball Club

Attending the University of Iowa to continue his baseball career was a no-brainer for the lifelong Iowa Hawkeyes fan. The Iowa City campus is only about an hour and a half drive from where Williams grew up.

“My family has always been Iowa fans,” Williams said. “We’ve been going to football games since I was like eight years old. If I didn’t play baseball, I would have been at Iowa as a student. So when they told me to come play there, it was a no doubter, it was like instant that I was going to go there. My family has all been there—my brother and sister went there as well. So, yeah, it was always Iowa.”

Williams put up big numbers his freshman season, slashing .298/.388/.509 with two home runs and an .897 OPS in just 15 games because of a shortened season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I think the big thing was just the college experience and kind of like having to do a lot of stuff on your own,” he said of his adjustment to college ball. “Being like a grown up kind of, but then I think the coaches there, (Head Coach Rick) Heller, (Associate Head Coach and Hitting Coach) Marty (Sutherland), did a good job making me feel comfortable. Just the confidence that they had in me, knowing that I could do it, also gave me the confidence on the field, knowing that if they believed in me and they knew I could do it, then I should believe in myself the way they do.”

After posting a 1.051 OPS during his sophomore season, Williams slashed .335/.464/.622 with 13 home runs and a 1.086 OPS his junior year.

“The memories I built with a lot of guys, I still talk to a lot of them today,” Williams said. “I think one of the cooler things was playing in the Big 10 tournament, being able to play in Omaha, and just being in front of Iowa fans. The Iowa fans do a pretty good job, even though it's obviously not full, but they do a pretty good job of being loud there, so that was a fun experience.”

One game that stands out from his time at Iowa came during his final season there against Bradley. Williams doubled in the first, singled in the third, homered in the fourth, was hit by a pitch in the sixth and doubled again in the seventh. He stepped to the plate in the eighth inning needing a triple for the cycle.

“I've been in that situation before,” Williams recalled, “where I've had like a probably a double, homer, and a single, and I'll make the joke that if I if I get a chance, I'm forcing the triple. So all I remember is I hit a ball down the right field line, and even teammates will still joke that they've never seen me run harder out of the box than that moment of that game.”

Williams legged out a triple to finish 5-for-5 with two doubles, a hit by pitch, five RBIs, four runs scored—and the cycle.

Following his junior year, Williams was selected in the seventh round by the Blue Jays in MLB’s 2022 draft. He reported to Dunedin, where he played 28 regular season games and posted a .715 OPS for the Low-A Dunedin Blue Jays.

“It's a lot,” he said of his adjustment to professional baseball. “Just playing six games a week, and then just the ups and downs. Like you're going to have a lot of good and a lot of bad moments, and I definitely experienced that my first year. I think it was just a good wake-up call to prepare myself for what a full season could be like.”

Ripping a ball at Sahlen Field. Photo Courtesy of the Buffalo Bisons Baseball Club

In 2023, he started the season at Dunedin, where he slashed .274/.370/.476 with seven home runs in 45 games, earning himself a promotion to the High-A Vancouver Canadians in late May. It was with the Canadians that he earned his now-iconic nickname.

“At the very end of the season we had a players meeting,” Williams explained, “and I wore my Iowa Meat Truck shirt that my neighbor back home gave me, and the coach (Brent Lavallee) loved the shirt. He's like, every time you hit a double or home run, you’ve got to honk the horn. I didn't really do anything after that because it was the last week of the season. But then the following year in ‘24, I started honking the horn. The announcer up there (Tyler Zickel) was wondering what that was, so told him the story of it, and then every time I hit a double or a home run, would throw the name out there, and I think that's where it really took off.”

The nickname quickly became well known throughout baseball. In 2026, a “Nickname Knockout” competition on MiLB.com gave baseball fans the opportunity to fill out online brackets to choose the top nickname in the Minor Leagues. The Iowa Meat Truck finished first with 28,621 votes, besting The Password (Jhostynxon Garcia), Lord Tubbington (Jace LaViolette), Tugboat (Matt Wilkinson), Big Christmas (Jhonkensy Noel), The Ice Cream Man (Hagen Danner), Sasquatch (Boston Bateman), The Canadian Cannon (Jonah Tong), Captain America (Walker Jenkins), and Big Papa (Ruben Ibarra).

Williams returned to Vancouver in 2024, where he slashed .289/.362/.476 with 11 home runs and an .838 OPS in 79 games. He then headed to Arizona to play for the Scottsdale Scorpions in the Arizona Fall League, where he continued to put up big numbers—hitting three home runs with an .808 OPS in 20 games. He was rewarded by being named to the Fall Stars Game, where he was also a participant in the league’s home run derby.

“The Fall League was fun, just being able to play with guys from different teams, talk to them, see what they do, kind of compare what we do differently,” Williams said. “But then I think for me also was like kind of like a… It was fun—obviously I wanted to compete, wanted to do my best, and still try—but like see baseball, kind of like step back and like see it through a different lens of like, hey, it's still important, but it's like go have fun, don't worry about the score as much, just get your at-bats and just have fun with guys.”

He spent last season at Double-A New Hampshire, where a dip in production forced him to make adjustments at the plate.

“I think last year going to New Hampshire, really it was a rough season,” he said. “I think pitchers were really able to exploit my weaknesses. I think we were able to focus in on those coming into this season, be able to fix what I needed to. Because I still obviously had some of the same weaknesses in ‘24, but pitchers weren't able to expose it as much. I think that was a situation where if it ain't broke, don't fix it. So, I was playing well enough where there's no need to address those holes in the swing, and I think being able to get punched in the mouth a little bit in New Hampshire really opened the eyes and made me prepare more for this season.”

“It was more approach and how I need to see the ball and think about my swing,” he continued. “I was chasing a lot more. I think just being able to know what a pitcher is going to want to do to me instead of trying to always get my pitch. Know that I’ve got to go for the pitch that's going to be best for that certain AB. I used to just only sit fastball, but sometimes, if I know I'm going to get a pitch, be ready for that pitch. Even though it's not my best, like if I'm ready for it, I'm going to be able to handle it.”

After regaining his stroke at Vancouver this season (.265/.355/.470 in 75 games), Williams made his Triple-A debut with the Bisons in mid-August. He ended up showing that he could be a force against higher-level pitching, slashing .278/.321/.430 with three home runs and a .752 OPS in 23 games with the Herd.

“The big thing is whenever you get promoted, you always want to try to make an impact early,” he said. “So I think a little bit I was trying too hard to like play well and trying to do too much early. I think just talking with some guys and talking to (Bisons hitting coach) Matty Young—I've been working with him for four years now, about the swing and just calming myself down. I think that's the big thing is also knowing that they brought me here too because they believe in me as well. Knowing that they believe in me. I need to believe in myself. I think if I just stick to that and just go out there have fun, it'll all work itself out.”

The slugger believes sticking with his current approach is the key to realizing his dream of playing big league baseball.

“I think just consistency, and then just keep hitting the ball in the air,” he said. “I kind of struggled at that the beginning year, but over the second half of the season, I’ve been doing a better job of getting the ball in the air. I think that's something that the Blue Jays want out of me. I think if I can just keep doing that, good things will happen. I’m not going to force my way to Toronto but just try to do what I can to make it so they might have to put me there.”

He may still be working toward his dream of reaching Toronto, but his nickname, The Iowa Meat Truck, has already made quite a journey of its own.

“It’s kind of crazy to me,” he chuckled. “I feel like wherever I go, there's always a fan in the stands yelling, ‘The Iowa Meat Truck.’ I never thought it would grow this big. I almost thought it was going to be that one season and kind of stay there. But then last year when I first got to New Hampshire, all the fans knew it there. When I first got here, all the fans already knew it, and they're just all screaming it already. It's been fun.”