Jonathan Rafael Villar Roque (born May 2, 1991) is a Dominican professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

second baseman In baseball and softball, second baseman, abbreviated 2B, is a fielding position in the Infielder, infield, between Baseball field#Second base, second and Baseball field#First base, first base. The second baseman often possesses quick hands and f ...

for the

Algodoneros de Unión Laguna The Algodoneros de Unión Laguna (English: Laguna Union Cottoneers) are a professional baseball team in the Mexican League (LMB). Based in Torreón, Coahuila, they play in the North Division of LMB. History Early years The team was established ...

of the

Mexican League The Mexican Baseball League (, or LMB, ) is a professional baseball league in Mexico. It is the oldest running professional sports league in the country. The league has 20 teams organized in two divisions, North and South. Teams play 114 games ...

. He has previously played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB) for the

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. They are one of two major leag ...

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. The Brewers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Di ...

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles (also known as the O's) are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East Division. As one of the America ...

Miami Marlins The Miami Marlins are an American professional baseball team based in Miami. The Marlins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League East, East Division. The ...

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Since 1989, the team has p ...

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National ...

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Division. Th ...

, and

Los Angeles Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, ...

. Prior to 2017, Villar was primarily a

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball positions, baseball or softball fielding position between second base, second and third base, which is considered to be among the Defensive spectrum, most demanding defensive positions. Historically, the ...

Career

Philadelphia Phillies

Minor leagues

On May 20, 2008, Villar signed with the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. The Phillies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has ...

as an international free agent. He made his professional debut with the

Dominican Summer League Phillies The Dominican Summer Phillies are a minor league baseball team in the Dominican Summer League. The team plays in the Boca Chica North division and is affiliated with the Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professio ...

, hitting .271 with one home run, 21 RBI, and 27 stolen bases across 62 appearances. Villar split the 2009 campaign between the rookie-level

Gulf Coast League Phillies The Florida Complex League Phillies are a Rookie-level affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies, competing in the Florida Complex League of Minor League Baseball. Prior to 2021, the team was known as the Gulf Coast League Phillies. The team plays i ...

and Low-A

Williamsport Crosscutters The Williamsport Crosscutters are a collegiate summer baseball team of the MLB Draft League. They are located in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, and play their home games at Journey Bank Ballpark at Historic Bowman Field. From 1994 to 2020, they w ...

. In 42 games split between the two affiliates, he slashed .263/.346/.353 with no home runs, 19 RBI, and 17 stolen bases. Villar began the 2010 campaign with the Single-A

Lakewood BlueClaws The Jersey Shore BlueClaws (formerly Lakewood BlueClaws) are a Minor League Baseball team of the South Atlantic League and the High-A affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies. They are located in Lakewood, New Jersey, and are named for their locat ...

, playing in 100 games and batting .272/.332/.359 with two home runs, 36 RBI, and 38 stolen bases.

Houston Astros

On July 29, 2010, the Phillies traded Villar,

J. A. Happ James Anthony Happ (born October 19, 1982) is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played 15 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). He won the World Series as a member of the Philadelphia Phillies, and was an Major League Basebal ...

, and

Anthony Gose Anthony Robert Gose (; born August 10, 1990) is an American professional baseball pitcher and outfielder in the Arizona Diamondbacks organization. He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Toronto Blue Jays, Detroit Tigers, ...

to the

in exchange for

Roy Oswalt Roy Edward Oswalt (; born August 29, 1977) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. Oswalt played for the majority of his Major League Baseball (MLB) career with the Houston Astros. He also played for the Philadelphia Phillies, Texa ...

. Villar was named the 94th best prospect in baseball by ''

Baseball America ''Baseball America'' (BA) is a sports publication company that covers baseball at every level, including Major League Baseball (MLB), with a particular focus on up-and-coming players in Minor League Baseball (MiLB) college, high school, and inte ...

'' prior to the 2011 season. He was invited to Astros'

spring training Spring training, also called spring camp, is the preseason of the Summer Professional Baseball Leagues, such as Major League Baseball (MLB), and it is a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spri ...

in 2012. Villar played for the

Oklahoma City RedHawks Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

in 2013, and was named the Astros' minor league hitter of the month for June 2013.

Major leagues

On July 21, 2013, the Astros promoted Villar to the major leagues. On July 30, Villar stole home against the

. His strong finish to 2013 made him the team's Opening Day starter in 2014, but struggled offensively in 2014 as well as 2015. Nevertheless, he was named to the Astros' roster for the

2015 American League Wild Card Game The 2015 American League Wild Card Game was a play-in game during Major League Baseball's (MLB) 2015 postseason played between the American League's (AL) two wild card teams, the New York Yankees and the Houston Astros. It was held at Yankee St ...

. In the seventh inning, he pinch-ran for Chris Carter, stole second base, and scored on a single by

Jose Altuve Jose Carlos Altuve (; born May 6, 1990) is a Venezuelan professional baseball second baseman for the Houston Astros of Major League Baseball (MLB). Having played for the Astros since 2011, he is the longest-tenured current member of the team, an ...

to make the score 3–0, which ended up being the final score of the game.

Milwaukee Brewers

The Astros traded Villar to the

for Cy Sneed on November 19, 2015. Villar impressed Brewers manager

Craig Counsell Craig John Counsell (born August 21, 1970) is an American former professional baseball infielder and current manager for the Chicago Cubs of Major League Baseball (MLB). He was previously the manager for the Milwaukee Brewers and holds the Br ...

in Spring Training, and became the Brewers' Opening Day shortstop. Villar played very well for the first half of the season despite the team's struggles, posting a .298 batting average, 6 home runs and a league-leading 19 stolen bases before the All-Star Break. After top prospect

Orlando Arcia Orlando Jesús Arcia (born August 4, 1994) is a Venezuelan professional baseball shortstop for the Colorado Rockies of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Milwaukee Brewers and Atlanta Braves. The Brewers signed A ...

was promoted to the Majors, Villar was moved to third base. He finished the year with 62 stolen bases, leading the league, four more than Billy Hamilton of the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. The Reds compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Divisi ...

, along with a .285 average, 62 RBIs, and 19 home runs. He led the National League in power-speed number (29.1). After the acquisition of

third baseman A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the Baseball scorekeep ...

Travis Shaw Travis Richard Shaw (born April 16, 1990) is an American former professional baseball infielder who played eight seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). He played for three MLB teams—the Boston Red Sox, Milwaukee Brewers and Toronto Blue Jays� ...

, the Brewers announced that Villar would shift to second base. Villar struggled for most of 2017, and lost his starting job at second base after the Brewers traded for

Neil Walker Neil Martin Andrew Walker (born September 10, 1985) is an American former professional baseball second baseman and current broadcaster. He played 12 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Pittsburgh Pirates, New York Mets, Milwaukee Bre ...

. With

Keon Broxton Keon Darell Broxton (born May 7, 1990) is an American former professional baseball outfielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Milwaukee Brewers, New York Mets, Baltimore Orioles, and Seattle Mariners. Playi ...

struggling, Villar began to get regular starts in

center field A center fielder, abbreviated CF, is the outfielder in baseball who plays defense in center field – the baseball and softball fielding position between left field and right field. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the cen ...

. Defensive struggles and the emergence of rookie outfielder Brett Phillips resulted in Villar once again returning to a bench role.

Baltimore Orioles

At the

trade deadline In professional sports within the United States and Canada, a trade is a sports league transaction between sports clubs involving the exchange of player rights from one team to another. Though player rights are the primary trading assets, draft ...

on July 31, 2018, Villar, along with minor leaguers Luis Ortiz and Jean Carmona, was sent to the

by the Brewers who acquired

Jonathan Schoop Jonathan Rufino Jezus Schoop ( ; born October 16, 1991) is a Curaçaoan professional baseball second baseman for the Algodoneros de Unión Laguna of the Mexican League. He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Baltimore O ...

for its postseason run. Villar was activated on August 2 and played his first game with the Orioles later that night. He collected two hits and scored a run in his Orioles debut. He collected three hits the next night, including his first RBI with the O's. Two nights later, he would collect three more hits in three at-bats, including a double, home run, one RBI, a walk and three runs scored. In 54 games, Villar hit .258/.336/.392 with eight home runs and led the Orioles with 21 stolen bases. Villar became the fifth Oriole to

hit for the cycle Hit means to strike someone or something. Hit or HIT may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Hit, a fictional character from '' Dragon Ball Super'' * Homicide International Trust or HIT, a fictional organization ...

in a 9–6

home A home, or domicile, is a space used as a permanent or semi-permanent residence for one or more human occupants, and sometimes various companion animals. Homes provide sheltered spaces, for instance rooms, where domestic activity can be p ...

loss to the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...

on August 5, 2019. He hit a

triple Triple is used in several contexts to mean "threefold" or a " treble": Sports * Triple (baseball), a three-base hit * A basketball three-point field goal * A figure skating jump with three rotations * In bowling terms, three strikes in a row * I ...

and a

double Double, The Double or Dubble may refer to: Mathematics and computing * Multiplication by 2 * Double precision, a floating-point representation of numbers that is typically 64 bits in length * A double number of the form x+yj, where j^2=+1 * A ...

in the third and fifth innings respectively off

Masahiro Tanaka is a Japanese professional baseball pitcher for the Yomiuri Giants of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). He has previously played in NPB for the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles and in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees. From ...

, a two-run

homer Homer (; , ; possibly born ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Despite doubts about his autho ...

in the sixth off Tommy Kahnle that had tied the game at 6–6 and a

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

in the ninth off

Aroldis Chapman Albertín Aroldis Chapman de la Cruz (; born February 28, 1988) is a Cuban-born American professional baseball relief pitcher for the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Cincinnati Reds, New Y ...

. His one-out three-run homer off Caleb Ferguson in the seventh inning of an Orioles' 7–3 home victory over the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...

on September 11 was the 6,106th of 2019 and established a new major league record for most total

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...

s in a season, surpassing the 6,105 set two years earlier in 2017. He was the first MLB player with at least 24 home runs and 40 stolen bases in the same season since

Carlos Gómez Carlos Argelis Gómez Peña, nicknamed Go-Go, (; born December 4, 1985) is a Dominican former professional baseball outfielder. He played for the New York Mets, Minnesota Twins, Milwaukee Brewers, Houston Astros, Texas Rangers and Tampa Bay Ra ...

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

. Along with

Starlin Castro Starlin DeJesus Castro (born March 24, 1990) is a Dominican professional baseball infielder who is a free agent. He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Chicago Cubs, New York Yankees, Miami Marlins and Washington National ...

Whit Merrifield Whitley David Merrifield (born January 24, 1989) is an American former professional baseball second baseman and outfielder who played nine seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Kansas City Royals, Toronto Blue Jays, Philadelphia Phillie ...

Marcus Semien Marcus Andrew Semien (born September 17, 1990) is an American professional baseball shortstop and second baseman for the Texas Rangers (baseball), Texas Rangers of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played in MLB for the Chicago White Sox ...

and

Jorge Soler Jorge Carlos Soler Castillo (born February 25, 1992) is a Cuban professional baseball outfielder and designated hitter for the Los Angeles Angels of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Chicago Cubs, Kansas City ...

, he was one of only five players to appear in all 162 games in 2019.

Miami Marlins

On December 2, 2019, Villar was traded to the

in exchange for Easton Lucas. With the Marlins in 2020, Villar batted .259 with two home runs and nine RBI in 30 games.

Toronto Blue Jays

On August 31, 2020, Villar was traded to the

for

Griffin Conine Griffin Riley Conine (born July 11, 1997) is an American professional baseball outfielder for the Miami Marlins of Major League Baseball (MLB). He is the son of former MLB outfielder Jeff Conine. Amateur career Conine attended Pine Crest High ...

. On September 1, he made his Blue Jays debut. Overall with the 2020 Blue Jays, Villar batted .188 with no home run and six RBI in 22 games. After the 2020 season, he played for Dominican Republic in the

2021 Caribbean Series The 2021 Caribbean Series (Serie del Caribe) was the 63rd edition of the international competition featuring the champions of the Colombian Professional Baseball League, Dominican Professional Baseball League, Mexican Pacific League, Panamanian ...

New York Mets

On February 11, 2021, Villar signed a one-year, $3.55 million contract with the

. Villar hit his first spring training home run as a Met on March 7, off of

pitcher Yimi García. He would go on to bat .249/.322/.416 with 18 home runs, 42 RBI, and 14 stolen bases in 142 games for the Mets. Villar elected for free agency following the season.

Chicago Cubs

On March 19, 2022, Villar signed a one-year, $6 million contract with the

. On June 24, Villar was

designated for assignment Designated for assignment (DFA) is a contractual term used in Major League Baseball (MLB). A player who is designated for assignment is immediately removed from the team's 40-man roster, after which the team must, within seven days, return the pla ...

. On June 29, Villar was released by the Cubs.

Los Angeles Angels

On July 2, 2022, Villar signed a one-year contract with the

. On July 24, Villar was designated for assignment for the second time that season. In 13 games with the Angels, Villar batted .163/.226/.224 with one home run and three RBI. He cleared waivers and elected free agency on July 29.

Seattle Mariners

On August 1, 2022, Villar signed a minor league contract with the

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. The Mariners compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. The team joined the American ...

. In 37 games for the Triple–A

Tacoma Rainiers The Tacoma Rainiers are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Seattle Mariners. They are located in Tacoma, Washington, and play their home games at Cheney Stadium, ...

, he hit .283/.329/.497 with 6 home runs, 24 RBI, and 10 stolen bases. Villar elected free agency following the season on November 10.

Algodoneros de Unión Laguna

On April 19, 2023, Villar signed with the