MLB: The player of all positions and master of none of them

The Venezuelan Willians AstudilloThe 30-year-old made his major league debut with the Minnesota Twins in 2018 and since then he has displayed a rare, strange skill set and a rather rare level of defensive versatility. “La Tortuga” has played every position on the diamond, except for shortstop.

Astudillo worked as a receiver and infield cornerback with the Philadelphia Phillies in his early days as a prospect and has continued to add more positions to his defensive profile. He’s not considered a positive defender anywhere, but Astudillo embodies the profile of “the player of all trades, the master of none”:

More interesting is Astudillo’s unorthodox ability at the plate. As free as a swinger in the game, the right-hander Astudillo also possesses amazing bat-to-ball skills. He struck out just 25 times in 533 career plate appearances (4.7%), but his frequent hacking has led to an even lower walk rate of 1.9%.

Astudillo has a bit of raw power, but his swings so early and so often, with contact rates so high, that he’s rarely in a position to land a pitch to drive.

It may interest you: MLB La Tortuga Astudillo had Yermin Mercedes at 3-0 and this is the result

Since 2018 (minimum 500 plate appearances), Astudillo has the third highest swing rate (60.1%) of any player in baseball and the second highest contact rate (91.5%), behind only his now former teammate. team member, Luiz Arraez, in that regard.

Rafael Martinez

I am fond of the King of Sports, especially the Boston Red Sox in MLB and in general all of Mexican baseball. This profession has given me the opportunity to cover major events such as the Caribbean Series, LMB All Star, LMP (uninterrupted since 2009), signings of important players. I had the chance to attend the 2013 World Classic in Arizona, USA, albeit as a fan. Apart from this beautiful sport, I love basketball, where I have also narrated games and even an NBA friendly 10 years ago, but I carry baseball in my veins. Bachelor of Communication Sciences from the Autonomous University of Sinaloa (UAS) , from which I graduated in 2011. I was born in Mazatlán, Sinaloa and started in the world of sports journalism in 2004 in the newspaper El Sol de Mazatlán, where I was a baseball columnist and reporter at the same time. In January 2009 I came to El Debate as a journalist reporter and it was almost six years (in the first stage), until in November 2014 I emigrated to the radio providing my services in Línea Directa-Grupo RSN. My cycle there ended in July 2019 and after a few days, El Debate gave me another opportunity to work and opened the doors for me again. That is how I came to Al Bat, where I have been since 2019 as a web journalist.

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