Center field? Infield? DH? Marlins’ Villar will play anywhere to stay in the lineup.
Jonathan Villar’s spot in the Miami Marlins’ lineup is all but assured. Manager Don Mattingly still sees the switch-hitter who has a blend of power and skills on the basepaths as his leadoff hitter, no different than the situation three-plus months ago.
As for Villar’s spot in the field? That’s a trickier question. The Marlins experimented with him in center field before the coronavirus halted spring training in mid-March and put baseball on hold until last week.
When the Marlins’ season starts July 24, you might see Villar in center field. Or he might be at second base. Or shortstop. Or designated hitter.
Wherever Villar plays — or how often he plays at each position — is irrelevant to him. He just wants to play. The fact that this is his final season before free agency amplifies things, too.
“I don’t care whatever position they want me to play,” Villar said. “We play only for two months. ... If I stay in the lineup, I don’t care. I’ll be here for the team.”
Villar, a natural middle infielder whom the Marlins acquired from the Baltimore Orioles in an offseason trade last December, conceded that the adjustment to center field at the start of spring training was uncomfortable at first. He had challenges fielding line drives and is still working on his reads.
The situation has changed a bit now for the better, even with a three-month layoff. He spent time working on his ground ball work in the infield and on catching fly balls in the outfield while he was in the Dominican Republic during the break. He’s alternating between infield and outfield work daily during camp as well.
He feels comfortable.
“Now, I’m working every day,” Villar said. “... They see I can play center field because they know I can move my feet. Now, I feel normal.”
And that will help Marlins manager Don Mattingly ensure he can keep Villar’s bat in the lineup on a daily basis. That’s needed since he provides a valuable mix of hitting for average and the ability to hit for power, a perfect combination to be a table-setter for a lineup.
He’s a career .261 hitter and has 78 career home runs.
Villar showed a major uptick in his launch angle last season (7 degrees in 2019 compared to his career average of 3.9 degrees), which points to more line drives and flyballs — and a factor in his career-high 24 home runs last season.
The most eye-popping statistic of Villar’s career to this point are his 202 stolen bases. This includes swiping 40 bags last season — third in MLB — and leading MLB with 62 steals in 2016.
He is one of three players to have stolen at least 150 total bases during the past four seasons, along with Billy Hamilton and Trea Turner.
“When you trade for Jonathan, that’s one of those moves as a manager that you’re like ‘Yes’ right away,” Mattingly said. “He gives you a guy up top. He’s a switch-hitter, power and average, steals bags. A guy that’s exciting up top.”
Mattingly also noted that Villar is a candidate to be part of the designated hitter rotation so that he can get off days in the field.
“With the DH,” Mattingly said, “he can go a little bit back and forth — with center field, second base, shortstop and DH — to be able to keep him fresh.”
That will be needed in the two-month sprint of a regular season.
“We know the preparation for the situation now,” Villar said. “We need to play 100 percent over the two months, the 60 games. Nothing in my mind has me thinking about next year. We never know what’s going on. I’m ready to play 100 percent.”
