DENVER _ Christian Villanueva looked poised to finish as strong as he started 2018. Now, the 27-year-old rookie is facing the sobering proposition that a fractured figure could end his season.
"It's definitely frustrating," Villanueva said late Wednesday night through team interpreter David Longley. "I feel like I had gotten my rhythm and was playing the way I wanted to play."
Given his first opportunity to start in the majors, Villanueva paired eight homers with a 1.103 OPS as the NL rookie of the month in April. He had posted a .575 OPS over his next 71 games before an August surge positioned him for a large chunk of playing time as the season came to a close.
Wil Myers was going to play third base, yes.
But Villanueva was going to get a look at second base and perhaps shortstop, thanks in large part to a bat that produced a .346/.442/.489 batting line this month.
"He made some really good adjustments in August," Padres manager Andy Green said. "They were probably the most encouraging things we saw since the beginning of the season."
Then a hard one-hopper struck Villanueva in the hand Tuesday night _ his middle finger on his right (throwing) hand, to be exact _ in his second start at second base. His finger swelled up overnight and he was sent for X-rays Wednesday.
Villanueva said doctors gave him a three- to four-week recovery window. The season has less than six weeks remaining.
"I don't see guys coming back from fractures in three weeks very often," Green said. "That's the number I get at the very beginning. My guess is it's going to be longer than that. If he can make it back by the end of the year, then great. But there's not a lot of weeks left in the season right now."
Villanueva knows that all too well.
"It's really disappointing, especially at this point in the season with a little over a month to play," said Villanueva, whose 20 homers were tops on the Padres and the most among NL rookies. "It's something unexpected and it hurts. It's not great."
