Aggressive Villar ‘running’ fine line on bases

MILWAUKEE — How aggressive is too aggressive? The debate that used to dog Carlos Gomez now applies to Jonathan Villar, who took part in a frank discussion about baserunning on Sunday morning with manager Craig Counsell and first-base coach Carlos Subero.

Three times in a four-game span from Wednesday to Saturday, Villar made the third out of an inning at third base. The capper came in Saturday’s extra-inning loss to the Padres, when Villar was out trying to steal third in the bottom of the ninth inning of a tie game.

“That was a mistake,” Counsell told reporters afterward. The next morning, Counsell sat down with Villar to talk about it.

“A big part of his success is the way that Counsell has allowed Villar to be himself,” said Subero, a longtime Minor League manager who joined the Brewers’ big league staff this season. “Villar mentions this all the time: ‘Now I can play my game.’ This is the first time he has an everyday job with freedom.

“So go out there and play and be yourself until Counsell draws that line and says, ‘OK, this is enough. This is what we want. We don’t want this.’ The teaching part continues. By making mistakes, you’re going to learn.”

Villar turned 25 on May 2, and he’s having the best offensive season of his career. He has reached safely in nine straight games to drive his batting average up to .292 and his on-base percentage to .391. Those would be career bests. He is second in the National League with 11 stolen bases, but he’s been caught a league-high five times. Villar has had the same sort of mixed results on batted balls, …

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