Villar producing with Brewers on base
For the most part, Jonathan Villar has been batting lower in the order for the Milwaukee Brewers this season.
Manager Craig Counsell might be onto something.
With Christian Yelich and Lorenzo Cain heading up the order, Villar has hit sixth or seventh in the order in 10 of the 14 games he's started this season. Having runners on base when Villar is at the plate -- and there's a better likelihood of that happening lower in the order than batting leadoff, when the pitcher hits in front of him -- has proven to be a successful proposition.
Villar is eighth in the major leagues in batting average with runners on base (minimum 20 at-bats).
PLAYER | TEAM | AB | H | AVG |
Dansby Swason | Braves | 28 | 15 | .536 |
Ryan Flaherty | Braves | 21 | 11 | .524 |
Corey Dickerson | Pirates | 23 | 11 | .478 |
Adeiny Hechavarria | Rays | 24 | 11 | .458 |
Yasmani Grandal | Dodgers | 25 | 11 | .440 |
Mike Moustakas | Royals | 25 | 11 | .440 |
Josh Bell | Pirates | 36 | 15 | .417 |
Jonathan Villar | Brewers | 24 | 10 | .417 |
Jose Pirela | Padres | 29 | 12 | .414 |
Hanley Ramirez | Red Sox | 29 | 12 | .414 |
With runners in scoring position, Villar ups his game -- he's 6 for 13 (.462) with a home run and seven RBI.
So far on the young season, Villar is batting .333 (4-for-12) when batting sixth and .308 (8-for-26) when hitting seventh. He's 1-for-12 (.083) when batting leadoff.
Other notes:
-- Among right-handed pitchers, Chase Anderson has the fourth-lowest ERA in MLB since the beginning of the 2017 season (min. 150 IP). Anderson's ERA over that span is 2.75, trailing only Cleveland's Corey Kluber (2.16) and Washington's Max Scherzer (2.37) and Stephen Strasburg (2.59).
Statistics courtesy STATS and baseball-reference
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