Villar’s slow start to season leading to a fast finish
Give Jonathan Villar credit — a brutal first 4 1⁄2 months weren’t enough to submarine his entire 2017 season.
With the Milwaukee Brewers still fighting for a spot in the postseason, Villar has picked the perfect time to finally come alive at the plate. Despite going 0 for 4 at the plate Sunday, Villar is hitting .400 with three home runs and seven runs batted in for a lineup that’s needed the production with anchors Ryan Braun and Travis Shaw struggling.
“It’s not how you start; it’s how you finish the season,” Villar said. “I want to finish strong. I want to help the team. I’m working every day. We’re not perfect. I come to the stadium every day and play hard and am ready for every situation and every time I’m given an opportunity.”
Villar figured to be a lineup mainstay in 2017 just as he was last season, when he served as a catalyst in the leadoff spot with a .285 average, 19 homers, 63 RBI and a major-league-leading 62 stolen bases.
But he got off to a terrible start at the plate, landed on the disabled list with back spasms and fell behind first Eric Sogard and now Neil Walker in the pecking order at second base. His average was sitting at just .213 as recently as Aug. 9 before kick-starting himself with a two-hit game the next night.
He’d hit in all 15 of his starts over that span prior to Sunday while adding center field to his repertoire, with manager Craig Counsell seeking ways to get him into the lineup with Walker. Villar now has his average up to .240 to go along with 11 homers and 40 RBI.
Villar has caught Counsell’s eye with how he’s been getting on base — a .421 clip in hishot streak — and with how he’s also tapping his power.
“If there is one thing, I would say the strikeouts are down and the ball is being put in play a little more,” said Counsell on Sunday morning, prior to the Brewers’ 7-2 victory over the Washington Nationals at Miller Park.
“That’s a good sign. Those are the two things I would point to.”
Villar credited the work he’s done with hitting coach Darnell Coles and a slight tweak to his stance suggested by Counsell as helping his offensive turnaround.
“My body had gotten a little bit down,” he said. “Couns looked at how I had started this year and last year. He showed me a picture and last year I was a little bit more (upright). This year, my body was a little bit down. On fastballs in, I’d jump to the ball and it would be a ground ball to first base.
“Now, with my body up, I can hit better.”
Kudos for Knebel:Corey Knebel was named the National League’s reliever of the month after posting a 1-0 record, 0.00 earned run average and franchise-record 13 saves in 15 appearances.
It’s the latest accolade in what’s been a banner 2017 for the right-hander, who earned his first AllStar Game nod in his inaugural season as the Brewers’ closer. He’s 1-2 with a 1.25 earned run average and WHIP of 1.11 to go along with 32 saves23and⁄ innings 109 strikeouts in 64 while enduring a heavy workload, with his 65 appearances tied for second in the National League entering Sunday.
Knebel had pitched in three straight games and five of seven before getting both Saturday and Sunday off. The Brewers had won just twice since July 25 without using him — Aug. 5, when he was listed as off-limits for rest, and Sunday, when the Brewers were able to win by a comfortable — and somewhat unusual, considering how many close games they’ve played — five-run margin.
“It’s a little of the battle and the war decision,” said Counsell when asked about balancing rest vs. reward for Knebel. “We have enough games left, to me, that he needs rest. We need to give him days off. He’s pitched in a large percentage of our games. We need to keep him at this level as best we can.”