The Giants called up David Villar yesterday, and he electrified the world by going 2-for-2 in his first 2 at-bats against Madison Bumgarner, including a double off the wall on the first pitch he saw. In his second at bat, Villar found a hole on the right side of the infield, and poked a single through it, knocking in the team’s third run of the day. He was a bright spot during a down period, signaling that maybe, just maybe, the farm system could help the Giants turn this thing around.
The rest of the team still played like clowns.
The Giants still couldn’t field. The rest of the team still couldn’t hit. The pitching didn’t rack up enough strikeouts to avoid giving up runs, since any ball put in play is very likely to lead to said runs. They still looked stagnant. They still looked dull. They still lost 8-3 in a game that was relentlessly boring to watch. Nothing was different, other than the one guy in the lineup who was at least kinda fun for one day.
Spoiler: the answer to “Will David Villar save the Giants?” is no. No, he won’t. No one can.
Now, I don’t want to be too doom-and-gloom here. When I say “no one can,” the emphasis there should be on one. No one player is going to do it alone. With all the veterans on the team in a slump, with Brandon Belt not doing anything other than walking and Mike Yastrzemski not showing any sign of getting past his struggles, and Darin Ruf not quite having it together, and Donovan Walton existing, one good hitter won’t do it alone. The team needs several good hitters, all hitting well.
Maybe Villar is part of that solution. I think we would all support that. But he is not, by himself, the guy who will fix it. He can’t be. He’s not 2004 Barry Bonds, so he won’t do it alone. And right now, any good player on the Giants would be alone.
Every position player is the problem right now. Yes, Brandon Crawford’s return will shore up the defense, but he still had just a .714 OPS in June. Yes, Joc Pederson is hitting well, but he’s playing the outfield out of necessity and folks, it is not going well. Austin Wynns is currently the starting catcher. Tommy La Stella is still on the roster, I guess. Austin Slater, good numbers be damned, is making an awful lot of boneheaded plays in center field.
It’s not going well, is my point.
Villar has certainly answered as many questions as he could possibly answer in AAA, and it doesn’t seem like there’s much more to learn there. He’s answered my question, which was, “Is he going to keep doing this when he’s not playing in Reno or Reno Lite every week?” He deserves a chance, and as much as it might be preferable for him to get it at third base, his natural position, well, the team doesn’t have an opening there. They need a second baseman, and for the moment, Villar is it.
The pressure, then, shouldn’t be on David Villar to be a savior. The pressure should be on the rest of the position players to stop playing baseball like absolute buffoons. Villar went 2-for-4 in his first game in the majors, and presumably that will buy him another start. But it’s long past time for everyone else in the lineup to step up. Right now, the only at bats I’m looking forward to are David Villar’s. That’s a sad statement, but only because this is a sad team.