David

Villar

Villar became a free agent last week after being outrighted by the Giants. The 28-year-old is a career .200/.292/.391 hitter in 383 major league plate appearances, with most of his success coming in 2022. He offers experience at first, second and third.

The 28-year-old infielder passed through waivers unclaimed after being designated for assignment on Monday. Rather than accepting an outright assignment back to Triple-A Sacramento though, he decided to look around and see what’s out there on the open market. Look for him to latch on elsewhere soon, presumably on a minor league deal.

Villar loses his spot on San Francisco’s roster with Casey Schmitt returning from the injured list prior to Monday’s game against the Royals. The 28-year-old infielder hit .200 (4-for-20) with one RBI during his latest nine-game stint with the Giants.

Schmitt landed on the injured list back on April 19 with an oblique strain, so it’s been about three weeks before he was able to get back onto the field. He will likely need at least another week on his rehab assignment before the Giants need to decide if they’d rather have him or David Villar as a backup infielder.

Schmitt landed on the injured list last weekend and will be out until at least mid-May. His extended absence gives David Villar some additional runway to carve out a role at the highest level in a reserve role.

Villar needed to be added back to the 40-man roster in order to receive the call up, and the Giants cleared room by moving Jerar Encarnacion (hand) to the 60-day injured list. He takes the roster spot of Casey Schmitt, after Schmitt hit the shelf with an oblique strain. Villar should see some time against lefty pitching, but not enough to suggest he’s worthy of a fantasy roster spot.

Villar went unclaimed on waivers after being designated for assignment earlier this week and will remain with San Francisco as extra organizational depth. The 28-year-old infielder has gotten into 109 games at the big-league level over the last four years.

Villar emerged on the fantasy landscape in 2022 with a brief stretch of solid games for the Giants, but is a career .200/.288/.400 hitter with a 32.4 percent strikeout rate. It’s possible the 28-year-old clears waivers and finds up in the Giants’ minor league system.

Villar has proven to be a capable emergency stopgap option this season for San Francisco, but there isn’t really a role for him at the highest level after the Giants picked up Mark Canha at the trade deadline and also promoted former top prospect Marco Luciano.

Villar is 5-for-17 with a homer for the Giants this season. He’ll likely start against lefties until Wilmer Flores returns. Playing time versus righties should be hard to come by.