Jonathan Villar continues to impress; DJ Stewart set for MLB debut

Of the 15 players the Orioles acquired in the July trades, it appears the only one we can bank on seeing on opening day 2019 - barring another deal - is infielder Jonathan Villar.

Villar continues to play well for the Orioles and drove in both runs last night in a 3-2 loss to the Athletics. The Orioles have scored 10 runs over the last three games, and Villar has knocked in five of them.

In 36 games with the Orioles he's shown a nice package of power and speed. He is playing better for the Orioles than he did for the Brewers before the Jonathan Schoop trade. In 87 games with Milwaukee, Villar hit .261/.315/.377 with an OPS of .693 along with 10 doubles, a triple, six homers, 22 RBIs and 14 steals in 16 attempts. In 36 games with the Orioles he is batting .291/.361/.454 with an .815 OPS along with two doubles, seven homers, 21 RBIs and 12 steals in 14 attempts.

Villar connected on his 13th home run of the season and seventh with Baltimore when he hit a solo shot 421 feet to center in the sixth inning off right-hander Mike Fiers. He extended his hitting streak to a career-high-tying nine games, hitting .371 (13-for-35) in this stretch. He also had a nine-game hitting streak Sept. 6-15, 2013. Villar has four multi-hit games his last six games, going 10-for-22 (.455).

Villar, a switch-hitter, has produced better versus right-handed pitching as an Oriole. With Milwaukee he hit .251 with an OPS of .645 off right-handers. With the Orioles those numbers are .303/.865.

Villar seems to love being an Oriole, or at least he loves playing every day and batting second or third in the lineup. He brings speed to the Orioles and plays with an abandon that this team seems to need. He has made some borderline reckless plays, but his all-out style is welcome on a team that hasn't seen players play like this often this year. And he has been solid defensively at both second and shortstop.

He seems to have a spot on the 2019 Orioles, but will it be at second base or short?

Stewart set for debut: He didn't exactly tear it up at Triple-A Norfolk and it didn't seem like the Orioles were going to call him up. But yesterday, there was outfielder DJ Stewart with a locker in the Orioles clubhouse next to Cedric Mullins and two lockers down from Adam Jones. He is expected to make his major league debut tonight.

Stewart needed to be protected on the 40-man roster this winter in advance of the Rule 5 draft, so calling him up now to take a look makes some sense.

Stewart got off to a decent start for the Tides and was hitting .271 at the end of May. But second-half struggles dropped his final numbers to .235/.329/.387 in 116 games for Norfolk, with 24 doubles, two triples, 12 homers, 11 steals and 55 RBIs. In the second half, the 24-year-old Stewart hit .212/.283/.342.

"For me, it was a tale of two seasons," Stewart said. "Started off relatively hot and kind of carried that into from last year in Bowie. To me, I think, this is not making excuses at all, but after I got injured a little bit (a hamstring issue in late May) and now that I had that week (after the minor league season) to think about it, I feel like when I got back, I was kind of trying to get back to where I was hitting before I got hurt. Instead of just playing.

"Early in the season, I was just playing the game, having fun and getting hits. When I got back it was like, 'All right, you have to get back to where you were.' Kind of put too much pressure on myself, just trying to do too much. Trying to get three hits in one at-bat when no one can do that. To me, it was more of a mental thing that kind of I let snowball on me a little bit. But to have that week off, this is like a new start. See what can happen."

Said manager Buck Showalter: "You're going to like the way he plays, you're going to like the way he competes. Sometimes, that can be rewarded, too. He's got a good eye at the plate, got some pop. It's the biggest jump and I'd be surprised if he doesn't hold his own here. He's a talented kid. I really like the way he approaches things from an effort standpoint and his alertness."

Did the Orioles make the right move to call up Stewart despite his modest Triple-A stats?