SF Giants: David Villar reveals a key piece of advice he received from Evan Longoria
The SF Giants video team released the latest episode of their Day in the Life series, which follows a member of the Giants throughout a gameday. On Wednesday, they posted a video following rookie infielder David Villar throughout his day earlier this month.
At one point in the episode, Villar spoke to former Giants star (now broadcaster) Hunter Pence during batting practice. He explained to Pence the value of having veterans like shortstop Brandon Crawford and third baseman Evan Longoria on the team to help him begin unlocking his potential at the big-league level. He recalled one conversation with Longoria that he credits for his improved performance in September.
"I came up to him after the Sunday game against Philly here at home. I talked to him, I was like, 'hey man, what do you see in my at-bats? Don't look at my swings, just what do you see in my at-bats?' and he's like, 'You're just caught in-between, kinda passive. You're trying to be right on every pitch.' And I told him, 'Look, I'm worried about my strikeouts." He's like, 'Dude, don't worry about that. You're a guy that impacts the ball. You hit homers. You hit doubles. Go out there and do that. The game's changed. Velocity's up. Pitches are nasty. Go be yourself.' And that was where it was just like, okay, I have that freedom to just be who I am. Obviously, I've been more comfortable in the box and it's just been a lot better this time. So that was huge for me." -David Villar
Villar has arguably been the most productive Giants hitter in the organization this year at Triple-A. In 84 games with the Sacramento River Cats, Villar hit .275/.404/.617 with 27 home runs, 55 walks, and 93 strikeouts. However, when he received his first career MLB call-up over the summer, Villar struggled to tap into his power potential. He hit just .175/.338/.286 with one home run and 28 strikeouts in 80 plate appearances and was optioned back to the minors.
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Since returning from Triple-A at the start of September, Villar has been far more productive at the plate. He's hitting .241/.294/.519 with four doubles and six home runs in 85 plate appearances this much. Villar is still striking out at a high rate without the high walk numbers he showed earlier in the season, but like Longoria suggested, it's a worthwhile trade-off to help him tap into his power more consistently.
Obviously the art of hitting is a constant work in progress. Villar will likely hope to carry his September success into the offseason and then focus on improving his approach even more. The young infielder is not expected to hit for a great average at the big-league level, but if he can find a way to continue generating extra-base hits at the rate he's shown this September while raising his walk-rate closer to his early-season numbers, he has a chance to be a .850 OPS type of hitter.
You can watch the full episode, which includes a fun conversation between Villar and pitcher Sean Hjelle alongside other interesting tidbits, below:
