Willians Astudillo

[Eric Blonigen]

Two-way player. International superstar. Contact savant. Turtle. 

Astudillo signed with the Phillies as a 16-year-old out of Venezuela. He made it to high-A in his final year of team control, then signed minor league deals with Atlanta, Arizona, and eventually Minnesota.

He signed a minor league deal with the Twins in 2017 and spent the season in Rochester. He made his major league debut in 2018, when he was called up to replace an injured Taylor Motter (remember him?), primarily playing catcher but bouncing around the field.

In his rookie season, he was worth almost one fWAR in fewer than 100 plate appearances, although he was a sub-replacement-level player for the remainder of his MLB career. This performance drop off primarily came as a result of the quality of his contact. Despite rarely striking out or walking, he made a lot of swings at pitches in locations he could not drive, leading to a low OPS.

However, his positional flexibility kept him with the team. As a member of the Twins, he played every position except shortstop, and made a number of pitching appearances in a mop-up capacity. He amused fans with his 35-45 mile Eephus pitch, wowing local media members. Postgame, when asked about his velocity, Astudillo responded “gasolina, papi!”,  inspiring a local t-shirt company to release merch in his honor. 

In addition to his positional flexibility, Astudillo was known for his clubhouse chemistry, sense of humor, making contact at a higher rate than basically anyone else in baseball history, and losing his helmet on the basepaths, a-la Eddie Rosario.

After the 2021 season, the Twins waived him and Miami signed him to a minor-league deal. He played in a limited capacity and at the end of the year, he signed a one-year deal with the Fukoaka SoftBank Hawks of the NPB League. A year later, he signed with the Saraperos de Saltillo in the Mexican League. 

View full player

[Doctor Wu]

I loved watching him play! Okay, he was never going to be an all-star, but with that uncanny ability to put the ball in play (rarely striking out OR taking walks) he was unique player in this era of baseball. I'd love to have him back, even as a coach at this point. That love of the game and zest for life is needed in these jaded times.