Nice homer, David. You're benched.
I guess it's possible the conversation was a little more diplomatic than that
In the top of the fourth inning yesterday, David Villar hit a 2-run homer off of Andrew Heaney. It was an opposite field shot, and yes, it was probably aided by hitter-friendly conditions — for those of you not in California, it is much hotter throughout the state than we would prefer, and for those of you not in the Central Valley, congratulations on not living on the surface of the sun — but it was still a good swing of the bat against a pitcher who’s been having a great year. That’s exactly what you want to see from a young player who was fantastic in the minors and hasn’t found his swing yet in the majors.
Then the Giants took him out of the game.
The TV broadcast had a video of Gabe Kapler talking to Villar after the homer, explaining *something* to him, which made Villar look somewhat unhappy, which was then followed (in the bottom half of the inning) by several defensive changes. I am writing this before Kapler (presumably) discusses the decision postgame, but while the game was still underway, it seemed pretty clear-cut what happened:
The Giants are a team whose modus operandi is to push every advantage, no matter how tiny, at every opportunity. The advantage they saw here is that, with a 4-run lead, they could improve their defense and also put in a left-handed hitter — Mike Yastrzemski — to face the right-hander who would likely come into the game for Heaney. Advantages! They found them!
But, like…why?
It is great to beat the Dodgers and I wholeheartedly approve of them losing every game they ever play until the sun swallows the Earth (which, looking at my local weather report, will happen by Thursday afternoon).
However, the Giants are 8 games back of a playoff spot with 30 to play. While they were playing last night, they were only percentage points separated them from the Diamondbacks, who are universally thought of as a non-entity. The 2022 postseason is not happening in San Francisco.
The priority, then, is development and evaluation. If you have a young player who has shown potential, then this September would be a fantastic time to give him enough starts to see if he can adjust to the big leagues. See who he is at this level. Get an idea of whether he should factor into your plans for next year. The Giants even know this!
Taking David Villar out after he went 2-for-2 doesn’t do that. It shows him that you don’t believe in him, and it robs him of the next at-bat, when he could see how the Dodgers adjust to him, and it robs him of time on defense, which apparently he could use. It’s a win-now move for a team that isn’t going to win anything impressive now.
I should note here that the domino effect of putting Yastrzemski in right field was that Bryce Johnson moved from right to left field, replacing Thairo Estrada, who moved to second base, replacing Wilmer Flores, who replaced Villar at first. In the bottom of the fifth, Johnson would throw out Austin Barnes at home by 10 feet. The plan worked!
I should also note here that Villar’s spot next came up in the top of the 6th, against Caleb Ferguson, a left-handed reliever. Hitting in that spot, Yastrzemski walked. The plan double worked! Yes, Ferguson was just pitching around Yastrzemski so he could go right at Bryce Johnson, who struck out on three pitches, but we’re sticking with it. Double worked!
And yet, I’m just not so sure about it. Yastrzemski, as much as I like him and want him to succeed, was hitting .139/.250/.252 in the second half coming into last night’s game. Villar came into the game even worse, but his two hits raised his line to .139/.205/.250 in significantly fewer plate appearances. It seems like that was the time to keep throwing him out there, especially when the team’s main alternative hasn’t exactly been lighting the world on fire.
Here’s what this is reminiscent of: the Giants trying to break in young players under Bruce Bochy. If you remember Brandon Belt’s first few years, they were plagued by this type of clear lack of confidence from the team, even in the face of extremely unimpressive competition. It was immensely frustrating to fans, and presumably to Belt too.
And that’s what Villar must be feeling. The major leagues are tough enough when you know you have your manager on your side. They’re plenty hard even when you’re getting consistent playing time. When you don’t, and you’re not, and you still manage to have a good game, it must be increidbly deflating to get taken out of the game anyway.
I don’t know what the Giants are doing with David Villar. I don’t know why. From the outside, it’s no inexplicable. But the explanation isn’t doing the team any favors.
Nice homer, David. You're benched.
Viva, Villar.
You got porked, dude.
Long Live the Lewis Brinson Era!