Is David Villar, the San Francisco Giants rookie third baseman ready for the prime time?  He sure looked the part in a two-homer game against Clayton Kershaw and the Giants earlier this month. He has also continued to hit lefties at a near-elite rate after his late season call-up from Sacramento. Has Villar and his offense earned a place on fantasy baseball rosters in 2023? Is he ready for “sleeper” status? These questions all come at a perfect time since it’s “Third Base Day” in the Fantasy Baseball Player Spotlight Series. Every Thursday, I break down a different MLB third baseman for your fantasy baseball lineups. Some weeks it is a prospect and others it may be a “Sell High”, “Buy Low” or even totally avoid at all costs-type player. 

Today, I am going to dig into David Villar, the former captain and teammate of Shane McClanahan at South Florida and see if he worth a pickup right now in the final days of your fantasy baseball leagues and should be part of the conversation as we start talking 2023 drafts? 

 

 

 

Fantasy Baseball Player Spotlight: David Villar

When Giants rookie David Villar had his two-home run game back on September 7th, there was something even more significant than one of the jacks being off of a future Hall of Famer (Clayton Kershaw) — it was his 30th home run of the year across the minor and major leagues. Why such significance? The Giants have been power-hungry for years and it was only the third time that the feat had been accomplished over the last 10 years (thanks to Andrew Baggarly of The Athletic for that stat!). Mike Yastrzemski hit 31 between Triple A (12) and the majors (21) in 2019 and Adam Duvall slammed 30 bombs for Single-A San Jose back in 2012. Here is another trivia question: who was the last San Francisco Giant to hit 30 home runs in the major leagues? You got it — Barry Bonds with 45 home runs in 2004. 

I was fortunate to watch Villar play at the University of South Florida and from the first game you could tell that the Fort Lauderdale native was special. He was the team captain and a kid beyond his years. As a junior, he was the first USF everyday player to be selected in the 2018 MLB Draft when the Giants selected him in the 11th round (316th overall). The first-team All-American Athletic Conference pick led the Bulls — and ranked second in the AAC — in batting average (.374). He also led USF in slugging percentage (.648), hits (82), runs (53), RBI (59) and doubles (24), and ranked second in home runs (12). This is the same draft that USF Bull ace Shane McClanahan was selected in the first round.

 

 

 

According to Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports, the Giants have made it known to their hitting prospects that they would like to see them dominate a level before moving them up. They have always been slow with their promotions and even Villar had to wait longer than he might have in another organization after a red-hot start to Triple A this season where he was slashing .275/.404/.617 with a 1.021 OPS. He had been a breakout prospect in their farm system over the past two years after first slashing .275/.374/.507 in the pitcher-friendly Eastern League in 2021, but it continued at Triple-A Sacramento.

 

David Villar’s Minor League Stat Sheet (Per Baseball-Reference)

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Villar made his MLB debut on July 4 in Arizona and even though his first major-league at-bat at wasn’t a home run, it was just as special — a first-pitch double off the right-field fence against veteran Madison Bumgarner. He was with the big club for 23 games and hit just .175 with one homer. The Giants do not have a large group of “can’t-miss” prospects in Triple-A, but they've said that Villar is the one player that they wanted to see get an extended audition this September. Young power hitters can have those Swiss cheese swings that get exploited at the Major League level, but with Villar we have a hitter where his power goes to the opposite field. He has posted a .227/.284/.520 slash in September with an .804 slash in September. He has definitely opened eyes with his platoon splits against left-handed pitching with a .290/.371/.613 slash and excellent .984 OPS. A .323 ISO/.407wOBA with 44.7% hard contact and 48% fly-ball rate are elite splits — especially as he gets closer to the 100 PA mark against southpaws.

Is he ready for 500 at bats next season? I would say that the kid has earned a shot as a full-time major-league player, but we have to be cautious because the Giants just re-signed Wilmer Flores and may end up picking up Evan Longoria’s option. I’m a fan of both Flores and Longoria but after what we have seen in September it’s time to give Villar a shot.

Does the Giants organization agree?

 


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