Houston Astros: Will Jonathan Villar's Temper Be a Future Issue?

The Houston Astros organization suffered two big blows to shortstops over the weekend, one occurring during a freak play and the other being self-inflicted.

In Saturday’s matchup between the Astros and San Francisco Giants, shortstop Jed Lowrie was forced to leave the game after suffering an ankle sprain, according to the Houston Chronicle’s Zachary Levine.

The more concerning issue comes from Houston’s Double-A affiliate, where top prospect Jonathan Villar broke his throwing hand after punching a wall between innings on Friday. Levine writes that Villar is scheduled to undergo surgery next week and that his season could be over since the minor league schedule is shorter than the major league one.

“This is a big loss for us,” general manager Jeff Luhnow told Levine. “Jonathan was having an outstanding season and really showed that he is one of the top young shortstops in all of minor league baseball. The injury is unfortunate for Jonathan, but he has a very bright future ahead of him and we’re looking forward to getting him back on the field.”

In 86 games with the Corpus Christi Hooks Villar was hitting .261/.336/.396 with 11 home runs, 50 RBI and 54 runs and was 39-for-47 stealing bases.

I recently suggested that the Astros could’ve traded Lowrie because Villar was playing so well and could replace him in Houston relatively soon. Clearly this will no longer work since both are injured, but it could be something that happens down the line.

The situation is a little strange, though. It’s unclear as to why Villar decided to punch the wall, but clearly something set him off. He’s one of Houston’s best young prospects and they can’t afford to let his emotions get the best of him this early in his career.

Luhnow’s thoughts on the situation don’t show a high level of concern, but he should be concerned. It would make a lot of sense to investigate this issue with the coaching staff and with Villar himself. He’s going to be sitting out for a good chunk of time and they need to make sure this doesn’t turn into a recurring situation. They must find out what sets him off and try to find a way to control similar situations when he’s on the field.

Villar has a lot of promise as a major league shortstop and his temper could be one of the things that keeps him from making an impact with the Astros. Hopefully this was just a one-time thing where his emotions got the best of him and doesn’t turn into a more serious issue.