With the departure of Evan Longoria, the Giants would seem to have a big question mark at third base.
Youngster David Villar and veteran J.D. Davis are the top competitors for the position. Both hit from the right-side of the plate, meaning that if one elevates themselves above the other, an everyday role could be up for grabs.
Villar could be the favorite to land that role as he enters his second season with the big league club, especially with what Giants general manager Pete Putila said on KNBR Wednesday.
“There’s a lot of excitement how he finished the year last year and among all players I think he had probably the best offseason of anybody,” Putila told Brian Murphy about Villar. “He’s gotten even bigger and even stronger and gained a step through that. We’re excited to see what he does.”
Villar finished the 2022 season strong, with an OPS of .854 in the season’s last two weeks, and had a solid first year as a whole (.231/.331/.455). Putila believes that Villar needs to grow more at the hot corner than he does at the plate.
“In a live [batting practice] a few days ago he hit a 105 m.p.h. line drive off the wall in centerfield, so that was good to see…David’s a player who performed at every level. For us it’s just about trying to refine his play at third base. We think he can hit. He’s got a good eye, he’s got good power. Working on his swing and miss at the top of the zone. Trying to get his shoulders leveled out a little bit.
“Great offseason physically, just continuing to try and chip away at third base defense. But we’re excited at what he can do.”
Listen to the full interview below. You can listen to every KNBR interview on our podcast page at knbr.com/podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts.
Catch Murph & Mac weekdays from 6 – 10 a.m. on KNBR 104.5 / 680 and streaming live on KNBR.com.