Infield duo turning corner
Arcia, Villar start to click near bag
ST. LOUIS – It was quite evident Monday night that Milwaukee Brewers second baseman Jonathan Villar and shortstop Orlando Arcia have become quite comfortable working together in the middle of the infield.
Villar and Arcia turned three 4-6-3 double plays, which proved crucial in hold the ing down the St. Louis offense enough to eventually emerge with a 7-5 victory in 10 innings.
Villar played shortstop last season until Arcia was called up from Class AAA Colorado Springs at the start of August. Villar played mostly third base the rest of way before moving to second base this spring.
Because Villar was away for a couple of weeks with the Dominican Republic entry in the World Baseball Classic, his time working with Arcia was curtailed. He played some catch-up after that and the two have become more comfortable with
each other over time.
“What I’d point to is Jonathan is getting his work out there daily and we’re seeing more consistency out of his defensive play,” manager Craig Counsell said. “He’s made some nice defensive plays the last couple of weeks, saving runs. They’ve been more consistent turning double plays.
“Turning the double play is one of the things (Arcia) is really good at. He plays with this rhythm. Everything he does defensively, there’s this beautiful rhythm to it. Like a dancer, it’s fun to watch.
“The way he picks up a ground ball, you can’t teach someone to pick up a ground ball like that. It’s rhythmic and the footwork is in sync. He’s easy on the eyes to watch play shortstop.”
Villar hated giving up the shortstop job last year but recognizes that Arcia was born to play the position. He has been working hard to smooth out his rough edges at second base and give Arcia accurate feeds when starting a double play.
“We are having fun playing together,” said Villar, who also doubled a runner off first after catching a line drive Monday night. “He’s a very good shortstop. Good feet, good hands. I like it when we play together. I feel comfortable with him.
“It took some time because I was away for the WBC. I didn’t play much with him at first. When I came back, I worked at it every day. I don’t think only about me. I think about the team. When we help the team win, I’m happy.”
The flip side: Villar also has picked up the pace of late at the plate. Entering Tuesday night, he was batting .333 (15 for 45) with a home run and seven RBI over his previous 11 games.
Villar was a force atop the lineup last season, posting a .369 on-base percentage. He still has some work to do with a .283 OBP but at least is headed in the right direction.
“That’s a really big number out of your leadoff guy,” Counsell said of Villar’s OBP in 2016. “It’s exactly what you want. We really made it through April, scoring a bunch of runs, without getting that level of production for him.
“It’s a place where he will be better as we go forward. That picks up the slack for somebody else who cools off. It’s important because the guy hitting leadoff is hitting in front of your dangerous hitters (usually Eric Thames, Ryan Braun and Travis Shaw) and so it’s a big deal with him on base.
“We look at it as dividing a pitcher’s attention by holding a runner on base and having Eric up to bat. That’s what speed does. It divides the pitcher's attention.”
Love the Drake: Reliever Oliver Drake picked up his first victory with the Brewers on Monday with an inning of scoreless relief. He has done a solid job since being acquired from Baltimore on April 13, posting a 2.00 ERA in seven appearances with 11 strikeouts over nine innings.
“He’s done a really nice job, specifically against lefthanded hitters (.185 batting average),” Counsell said. “And he’s making some adjustments against righthanded hitters that we think will really help him.
“His split-finger (fastball) is a real pitch. It puts the hitters on defense from pitch one. We’ve seen it with Junior Guerra’s results with it last year. Now, we have another guy getting big results with that pitch. He’s one of our better guys suited for lefthanded hitters.”