SAN FRANCISCO — The Giants aren’t giving up on David Villar, however for now, third base is now not his job.
Villar was on the bench once more on Wednesday as he continues to take a seat in opposition to most right-handed pitchers. It’s considerably of a shock given the Giants have been utilizing Villar because the three-hole hitter in the course of the first week of the season and anticipated him to be their on a regular basis third baseman.
“Except you simply signed a recent multi-year contract, there’s all the time competitors for taking part in time,” supervisor Gabe Kapler stated. “We have been going to present him each alternative to carry onto that third base job, however issues occur.”
The excellent news is that Villar isn’t chasing unhealthy pitches. He’s among the many greatest in baseball at staying within the zone.
The unhealthy information is that even whereas swinging at pitches which are strikes, Villar has been among the many worst gamers at making contact. His contact charge of 63% is fourth-worst amongst 224 gamers with a minimum of 90 plate appearances. Total, he’s hitting .151 with a .570 OPS and 4 house runs.
The facility, the hard-hit charge, the barrel share — all of these point out Villar can nonetheless be a productive hitter. However he has to make contact.
“The one factor is it’s solely been 100 plate appearances for David,” Kapler stated. “It’s a extremely fast look. Given his monitor file of success on the minor league stage and sufficient on the main league stage, he’s hitter.
“I haven’t for a second paid consideration to the normal line stats. There’s been sufficient hard-hit beneath that and consistent-enough balls within the air, which is what he’s accomplished effectively, so you are feeling like ultimately he’s going to place up good numbers.”
For the time being, Villar has taken a seat on the bench whereas the Giants roll with J.D. Davis at third base, Thairo Estrada at second and newly-promoted Casey Schmitt at shortstop.
“The panorama doesn’t look the identical on April 1 because it does on April 15,” Kapler stated. “I feel gamers’ consciousness round that, which is that there’s all the time competitors occurring, that’s , wholesome factor for our staff and for baseball.”
Villar began at designated hitter in opposition to a left-hander on Tuesday and went 1-for-3 with a pair of hard-hit balls. The Giants stay hopeful that he’ll play a much bigger position in some unspecified time in the future this season.
“Proper now you've got different guys who're getting precedence taking part in time,” Kapler stated. “J.D. due to J.D., Thairo due to Thairo. Typically it’s like, David isn’t taking part in as a result of David isn’t performing. However generally it’s concerning the guys who're performing and taking part in rather well.”